An Air Force official anticipates an emphasis on testing prototypes for precision strike and aircraft self-protect capabilities in the 2021-2023 time frame. Although the service's Directed Energy Weapon Flight Plan advocates demonstrations and prototyping for these use-cases, the Air Force has focused on base defense -- particularly countering unmanned aerial systems and cruise missile threats -- since the strategy’s release in 2017. Michael Jirjis, who oversees the directed-energy campaign within the strategic development planning and experimentation office, told Inside Defense...
