2022 Directed Energy & Non-Lethal Weapons

Don’t miss the opportunity to meet with the Department of Defense’s Science and Technology (S&T) experts in Directed Energy and Non-Lethal Weapons technologies.

During the week of 24-28 October 2022, the Directed Energy and Non-Lethal Weapons (DE & NLW) Communities of Interest (CoIs) teams are staging their Independent Research & Development (IR&D) Technology Interchange Meetings (TIMs). This invitation is open to all industry with IR&D and corporate investments, including large and small businesses, academia, National Labs and FFRDCs. This engagement will be held at the Phillips Conference Center, Kirtland AFB NM.

Directed Energy is an umbrella term covering technologies that relate to the production of a beam of concentrated electromagnetic energy or atomic or subatomic particles. Examples include: high-efficiency laser sources and high-power RF systems, including pulsed power sources, micro-/millimeter wave sources, and antennas. Directed energy weapons use directed energy to incapacitate, damage, or destroy enemy equipment, facilities, and/or personnel.

Today, Directed Energy weapons are being developed by the US and its adversaries for land, sea, and air and space applications. On land, this includes base defense, where DE can provide a deep magazine, long-range engagement, and low cost-per-shot against proliferated threats. Other land-based applications include clandestine target engagement using the ability of high-power microwaves to penetrate structures, invisible to the naked-eye, and damage or interrupt electronics without harming humans. On the sea, in the air, and in space DE weapons can provide platform self-defense. In a world of expanding, potential, DE military capabilities, a determination of scenarios that bound potential futures is a key input to creation of a national strategy that will shape the future to the advantage of the US and prevent our rivals and adversaries from obtaining them.