Fighting the speed of light: laser weapons: laboratory toys or imminent battlefield systems?

• Author: Jean, Grace V.
• Position: Technology

The promise of lasers has loomed just out of reach for decades as the next big technological breakthrough for warfare. While there have been recent successes in the laboratory and in tests of prototype systems, it remains to be seen whether speed-of-light weapons will progress onto the battlefield.

Analysts argue that in order for the nation to stay ahead of adversaries, it is imperative for directed energy proponents to help the technology clear political and institutional barriers now to allow laser systems to become available to war fighters in the next decade.

But clearing the hurdles will be a challenge, given the tough economic climate and the uncertainty of future warfare needs in the Defense Department. Lacking guidance from the military, industry may lag in developing the technology for operational use.

"If you don't get by those institutional barriers, you will not be able to field these systems within a decade, and we think there will be potential serious consequences," says Tom Ehrhard, a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington.

During the research institute's briefing on laser weapons on Capitol Hill, he warns that guided mortars are potentially the next lED, referring to the improvised explosive devices which are employed by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan that have killed hundreds of U.S. troops. They and potential adversaries increasingly are turning to smarter weapons to strike at U.S. interests and allies.

Lasers are one way to counter that threat. With deep magazines capable of taking multiple shots relatively inexpensively, lasers can help rebalance the equation in a way that can fundamentally change the nature of future contests, says Mark Bucknam, director for plans in the Office of the Secretary of Defense's policy branch.

"This is a way to turn the tide," agrees Adam Siegel, a senior analyst specializing in directed energy at Northrop Grumman Analysis Center. "Others are investing in this arena and if we don't pursue this, we have the real risk of not changing the game, but having the game directly changed on us," he says.

The arms race for smart munitions ought to spur the development of tactical lasers.

"We believe the proliferation of these systems provides the nearterm stimulus for a rapid transition to laser weapon systems," says Ehrhard, who co-authored a recent CSBA study on solid-state lasers.

He and other directed energy proponents believe that such systems would have high utility against the so-called "G-RAMM," or guided rockets, artillery, mortars and missiles, threat.

"The threat is of such a character that you really can't afford to ignore it, and you...