Review and Prospects of the United States Directed-Energy Weapons Technology Development in 1994,

Abstract

Directed-energy weapons are new-generation weapons developed on the basis of the new concept of replacing conventional bullets with high-energy-density beams. Technically, directed-energy weapons can be divided into three branches, namely: (1) laser weapons, which can destroy or destabilize targets by using electromagnetic radiation energy beams with a wavelength of less than 1 millimeter; (2) radio-frequency weapons, which can destroy or destabilize targets with radiated electromagnetic energy within the radio spectrum range (the wavelength is more than 1 millimeter and radio frequency less than 300 gigahertz); (3) particle beam weapons, which are capable of destroying or destabilizing targets with neutral high-energy atomic particle beams (usually hydrogen, deuterium and tritium) or charged high-energy atomic or subatomic particle beams.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1996
Accession Number
ADA310485

Entities

People

  • Zhang Yaping

Organizations

  • National Air and Space Intelligence Center

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Directed Energy Weapons
  • Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Energy
  • High Energy
  • Laser Weapons
  • Nuclear Materials
  • Particle Beam Weapons
  • Particle Beams
  • Radiation
  • Radio Frequency
  • Radio Frequency Weapons
  • Subatomic Particles
  • United States
  • Weapons

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy