Satisfechos con los\u00a0avances alcanzados en\u00a0programas de\u00a0la investigaci\u00f3n de tecnolog\u00edas de Energ\u00eda Dirigida (DE), la Missile Defense Agency (MDA) de EUA, ha puesto \u00e9nfasis en continuar m\u00e1s r\u00e1pidamente con el desarrollo de Sistemas de Armas de Energ\u00eda Dirigida (DEW), con el objetivo principal de disponer de capacidades para neutralizar misiles enemigos, tanto Bal\u00edsticos como de Crucero. Los niveles de maduraci\u00f3n de I&D espec\u00edfica alcanzados, permiten hoy colocar cada vez m\u00e1s potencia del haz de L\u00e1ser en el objetivo, pero cumpliendo adem\u00e1s los requerimientos operativos de Tama\u00f1o, Peso y Energ\u00eda (SW & P \u2013 Size, Weight & Power), adecuados para el funcionamiento eficiente del sistema.<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON \u2014 With directed-energy research now coming to fruition, the\u00a0Missile Defense Agency<\/a>\u00a0is putting \u201cincreased emphasis\u201d on development of\u00a0directed-energy weapons<\/a>\u00a0for shooting down adversary missiles, according to a senior MDA official.<\/p>\n \u201cI think part of [why] the Missile Defense Agency in the past few years kind of backed away was that technology needed still needed to mature. It needed to mature in power levels that could be delivered on target, and needed to mature and reduction of the size, weight and power requirements to produce the directed-energy effects,\u201d explained Laura DeSimone, MDA executive director, in an online interview with Defense News today.<\/p>\n The Defense Department has run hot and cold on lasers and high-powered microwaves for missile defense since the dawn of Ronald Reagan\u2019s Strategic Defense Initiative 40 years ago. In recent years, there was a burst of interest driven by Congress\u00a0in 2015<\/a>\u00a0that subsequently died down, only to be re-ignited during the Trump administration by then-Pentagon director of research and engineering\u00a0Mike Griffin<\/a>. The problem has simply been that the technology hasn\u2019t been ready for prime time.<\/p>\n However in recent months, the agency has seen \u201cthat technology maturation is happening,\u201d DeSimone said, including at the US national laboratories, the Department of Energy and within industry.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, there have been some really impressive results,\u201d DeSimone said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing studies all along, and looking at lethality effects and doing experimentation. But we think that, finally, we\u2019re starting to see some real progress and, and so that\u2019s why the increased emphasis.\u201d<\/p>\n The Biden administration\u2019s Missile Defense Review\u00a0issued last October<\/a>\u00a0noted the need for \u201cnon-kinetic\u201d options in light of changing threats, and the Defense Department over the past several years has ramped up funding for\u00a0numerous research and development efforts on\u00a0high-energy lasers<\/a>\u00a0and microwave weapons. The systems involve defense against both missiles and drones, with\u00a0the Army in the forefront<\/a>\u00a0of testing laser weapons.<\/p>\n Of course, laser systems aren\u2019t only of interest in the US. Israel\u2019s\u00a0Iron Beam<\/a>\u00a0effort, a laser-based variant of the Iron Dome system, is\u00a0inching towards active deployment<\/a>, while the United Kingdom\u2019s DragonFire effort has successfully\u00a0taken out small drones in tests<\/a>. But by sheer dollars, the Pentagon is always going to be a driving force in making the widespread use of directed energy a reality.<\/p>\n \u201cDirected energy shows great promise for the future. I mean, there\u2019s so many advantages of having a potential directed-energy engagement system \u2014 give the warfighter additional engagement opportunities, save interceptors, lower cost per engagement. So, lots of great potential for directed energy,\u201d DeSimone said.<\/p>\n MDA granted defense behemoth Lockheed Martin, which has a deep bench in DoD laser weapons development, a $2 million contract\u00a0last September<\/a>\u00a0to explore how directed-energy weapons might be integrated with the agency\u2019s current systems that rely on kinetic interception of ballistic, and in the future hypersonic, missiles. The study is due to be completed next month.<\/p>\n That contract was issued under MDA\u2019s Innovation, Science, & Technology Broad Agency Announcement (BAA), first published\u00a0in 2021,<\/a>\u00a0to allow the agency a wide net in funding a number of cutting-edge technologies. MDA updated the BAA\u00a0on April 10,<\/a>\u00a0to cover industry \u201cwhite papers\u201d through April 9, 2025.<\/p>\n Under the section on directed-energy research, the BAA explains that the agency\u2019s interest in lasers includes:<\/p>\n compact, reliable, and efficient high-energy (> hundreds of kilowatts lasers); high power microwave (HPM) systems; advancements in particle beam technologies; related directed energy components; and directed energy lethality\/effects on target (laser and\/or HPM with the target in the hypersonic regime). There is specific interest in diode-pumped fiber, solid state, gas, and liquid phase lasers (continuous wave or pulsed); and laser arrays, including line stable diode arrays and high power, high efficiency, narrow linewidth arrays.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n As for microwave systems, the BAA says MDA would like to see industry ideas for \u201chigh power amplifier technologies, frequency\/waveform flexibility, antenna gain and efficiency improvements, and concepts for effective combination techniques for multiple directed energy weapons on a single overlapping aim point.\u201d<\/p>\n