There are decades of research behind the energy guiding weapon system. Lockheed Martin has spent 40 years designing and developing electromagnetic energy systems, and by enhancing the energy of the system to create a directed energy defense system. This technology is powered by batteries, generators or existing power sources, and is a kind of spectral beam combined fiber green laser pointer-small in size, high in power, and extremely accurate. This technology uses beam control optics and software algorithms to focus a multi-kilowatt fiber laser into a high-quality beam.
Energy is transmitted through mirrors, lenses and windows, and can be adjusted to any atmospheric deformation during the process of reaching the target. The light beam can penetrate a truck engine, burn a rubber boat or shoot down a drone. Said Sarah Reeves, Lockheed Martin’s vice president of missile defense projects. “You can’t actually see the laser, it’s invisible. The enemy can’t aim the laser without knowing where it is launched. Of course, the laser travels at the speed of light.”
The uniqueness of energy-guiding weapons breaks the balance of defense tactically and economically. Troops on the battlefield do not have to worry about transporting heavy ammunition. The “ammunition” of this technology is only a power source, so the ammunition is unlimited. Being so concealed, they are ideal targets for unexpected attacks—the enemy will never see its arrival—and energy-guided weapons can track and eliminate short- and long-range targets.
As the Patriot missile incident demonstrated, energy-guided weapons can provide huge potential cost savings and added value in any tactical scheme. The cost of traditional weapons is thousands or millions of dollars per round, and they are also limited by ammunition. As long as they have energy, laser pointer weapons are infinitely renewable. But the purpose of laser weapon technology is to supplement existing defense systems, not to replace traditional kinetic energy ballistic missile systems.