A “Star Wars” sequel? The allure of directed energy for space weapons

ABSTRACT

The high-energy lasers of the 1980s were unwieldy assemblages of tanks, tubes, and plumbing that produced light by burning flowing gases, and the space shuttle was not ready for “space trucking.” In the decades since then, though, laser technology has come a long way, and the giggle factor of these technologies – dubbed “Star Wars” weapons by their detractors – is gone. High-energy solid-state lasers, not available in the Reagan era, are now being tested to shoot down rockets, mortars, and drones at hundreds of meters or more on the battlefield. Their success so far has led the Pentagon to reconsider high-energy lasers and other directed energy weapons for missile defense and perhaps other military applications on the fringes of space and in orbit. But are new actors merely making the same mistakes again, in an updated setting?

KEYWORDS:

• Star Wars
• lasers
• directed energy weapons
• space
• ballistic missile defense

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Funding

This research was aided by funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the author’s 2019 book Lasers, Death Rays, and the Long, Strange Quest for the Ultimate Weapon, which provided general background for this article. The author received no specific grant for this article from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was aided by funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the author’s 2019 book Lasers, Death Rays, and the Long, Strange Quest for the Ultimate Weapon, which provided general background for this article. The author received no specific grant for this article from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Jeff Hecht

Jeff Hecht is a free-lance science and technology writer and a contributing editor to Laser Focus World who has written about laser weapons since the 1970s. He is a fellow of the Optical Society of America and a life senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. His first book on laser weapons, Beam Weapons: The Next Arms Race (1984) was on the magazine editor’s desk when Ronald Reagan gave his Star Wars speech. His latest book is Lasers, Death Rays, and the Long, Strange Quest for the Ultimate Weapon https://jeffhecht.com/lasers-death-rays.html (2019, Prometheus Books).