New Directed-Energy Report

Just because the Pentagon in recent years walked away from the Airborne Laser program doesn't mean directed-energy weapons don't have a military future, according to a new report issued today by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments:

This report suggests that cultural factors and the lack of resources, not technology maturity, are now the most significant barriers to developing major new DE capabilities over the next decade. While developing and fielding these capabilities will require up-front investments, they have the potential to reduce DOD's dependence on costly kinetic weapons that require extensive logistics networks to replenish, yielding savings that could be used for other priorities. DE capabilities should therefore be a key part of developing a future capability portfolio aligned with DOD's objectives of creating "a smaller, lighter, more agile, flexible joint force that has to conduct a full range of military activities" while ensuring that U.S. forces "always maintain a technological edge" over its future enemies.

To view the report, click here.

And check out InsideDefense.com's most recent coverage of directed-energy weapons:

Boeing's High Energy Mobile Laser Weapons System To Be Tested This Fall (Inside the Army)

USAF's FY-13 S&T Budget Invests In Hypersonics, Fifth-Gen Weapons (Inside the Air Force)