{"id":34090,"date":"2024-01-23T11:23:01","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T11:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2024\/01\/23\/directed-energy-weapons-need-full-pentagon-commitment-industry-says\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:42:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:42:23","slug":"directed-energy-weapons-need-full-pentagon-commitment-industry-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/battlefield-tech\/directed-energy\/2024\/01\/23\/directed-energy-weapons-need-full-pentagon-commitment-industry-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Directed-energy weapons need full Pentagon commitment, industry says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Department of Defense must clearly commit to directed-energy weapons, or DEW, and shore up domestic sources of requisite materials to make them if it wants to deploy the futuristic arms en masse, industry advocates say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon has in the past \u201cwavered in its commitment to fielding\u201d high-energy laser and high-power microwave systems at significant scale, ultimately hurting its suppliers and their logistical choices, the Emerging Technologies Institute and the National Defense Industrial Association<\/a> said in a study published Jan. 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That status quo spells trouble for a type of armament that defense officials have described as a game-changer. Laser and microwave systems, known as HEL and HPM, are thought to have a critical role to play in countering overhead threats such as drones and missiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe U.S. does not have the luxury of time with its DEW development<\/a>,\u201d they said in the report, which was derived from research and interviews with Lockheed Martin, L3Harris Technologies and Epirus, among other sources. \u201cAdversaries have made progress with their own directed-energy programs, and this progress shows no signs of abating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Defense Department has for decades poured money into directed-energy weapons, an average $1 billion annually in the past three years, according to the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least 31 directed-energy initiatives are underway across the U.S. military. They include Lockheed\u2019s High Energy Laser with Integrated Optical-dazzler and Surveillance, or HELIOS, installed aboard the Navy destroyer Preble in 2022, and Epirus\u2019 Leonidas<\/a>, delivered to the Army in 2023 in furtherance of its Indirect Fire Protection Capability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bringing such systems into mass production has proven difficult. Aside from their technological complexity, laser- and microwave-based weapons require specialty materials<\/a>, such as germanium and gallium, and expensive precision components.<\/p>\n\n\n\t