{"id":34663,"date":"2018-11-13T16:54:49","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T16:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/uncategorized\/2018\/11\/13\/pentagon-to-boost-laser-investments-for-missile-defense\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:52:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:52:25","slug":"pentagon-to-boost-laser-investments-for-missile-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/c4isrnet\/home\/2018\/11\/13\/pentagon-to-boost-laser-investments-for-missile-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Pentagon to boost laser investments for missile defense"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Defense Department is planning to increase investments in directed-energy systems used for missile defense<\/a> over the next several budget cycles, according to the department\u2019s top technology adviser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Griffin<\/a>, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, said Tuesday he expects to have usable directed-energy weaponry in the hands of war fighters in \u201cno more than a few years,\u201d but acknowledged the size of a system usable for missile defense requires greater investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou need another factor of three to four to have as space control weapon, a missile defense capability \u2014 space-based, boost-phase or midcourse capability<\/a> \u2014 with a large directed-energy weapon. We need to be in the megawatt class to have that,\u201d Griffin said at an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not right around the corner but that\u2019s not utterly out of reach either. So you\u2019re going to see in upcoming budgets for missile defense<\/a> a renewed emphasis on laser scaling across several technologies because we feel we have to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Directed-energy weaponry has been a dream for decades<\/a> within the department, but Pentagon planners<\/a> and industry experts<\/a> have become increasingly confident the use of at least small systems in the near term is realistic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another potential use for lower-tier systems identified by Griffin is for disrupting swarming unmanned systems<\/a>, something he called a potential \u201ctransformative concern.\u201d Using high-powered microwaves to disrupt those swarms may make sense, he predicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More broadly, Griffin called for a \u201cproliferation\u201d of sensors in low-Earth orbit to combat hypersonic threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe really need to be closer to the action,\u201d he said about the need for those systems<\/a> to be in low-Earth orbit. \u201cWe need to be proliferated and reliant, so that removing a few of those satellites by the adversary doesn\u2019t alter our capability. We need to think about space as a domain which our adversaries seek to remove from our use, and respond accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he underscored a point he made over the summer \u2014 that trying to catch a hypersonic weapon with a space-based interceptor simply won\u2019t work, given the speed of hypersonic capabilities and how close to Earth they fly.<\/p>\n\n\n\t