Review and Prospects of the United States Directed-Energy Weapons TechnologyDevelopment in 1994

摘要

Directed-energy weapons are new-generation weapons developed on the basis of thenew 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.