War at the Speed of Light: Directed-Energy Weapons and the Future of Twenty-First-Century Warfare

284 Pages·2021·4.224 MB·English

by  Louis A. Del Monte

WAR AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT
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W A R A T T H E
S P E E D O F
L I G H T
DIRECTED-E NERGY WEAPONS
AND THE FUTURE OF
TWENTY-F IRST-C ENTURY WARFARE
LOUIS A. DEL MONTE
Potomac Books
An imprint of the University of Nebraska Press
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12 © 2021 by Louis A. Del Monte
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All rights reserved. Potomac Books is an imprint of the
14 University of Nebraska Press.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
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17 Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Del Monte, Louis A., author.
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Title: War at the speed of light: directed- energy weapons and
19 the future of Twenty- First- Century warfare / Louis A. Del
20 Monte.
Description: Lincoln: Potomac Books, an imprint of the
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University of Nebraska Press, [2021] | Includes bibliographical
22 references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2020017971
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isbn 9781640123304 (hardback)
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isbn 9781640124356 (epub)
25 isbn 9781640124363 (mobi)
isbn 9781640124370 (pdf)
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Subjects: lcsh: Directed- energy weapons. | Military art
27 and science— History— 21st century. | Military art and
28 science— Forecasting.
Classification: lcc ug486.5 .d45 2021 | ddc 355.8/246— dc23
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lc record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2020017971
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Set in Arno Pro by Laura Buis.
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After half a century of marriage, it is with
admiration for her intelligence, honesty, and
wisdom that I dedicate this book to my wife and
love of my life, Diane E. Del Monte
In loving memory of my dear friend
Nick McGuinness (1939–2020), a remarkable
man who, by example, taught us how to
live a meaningful life and face death
with courage and dignity
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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
List of Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Part 1. The Game of Cat and Mouse
1. Tilting the Balance of Terror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
2. The Quest for Global Dominance Using
Conventional Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3. The Coming Fourth U.S. Offset Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Part 2. Directed- Energy Weapons
4. Laser Weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5. Microwave Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6. emp Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
7. Cyberspace Weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Part 3. “Shields Up, Mr. Sulu”
8. Directed- Energy Countermeasures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
9. Force Fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Part 4. The Coming New Reality
10. Autonomous Directed- Energy Weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . 179
1 11. The Full- Scale Weaponization of Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
2 12. Not Gambling with the Fate of Humanity . . . . . . . . . . . 213
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Appendix A: U.S. and Chinese Defense Budgets Adjusted
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for Purchasing Power Parity and Labor Costs. . . . . . . . . 223
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6 Appendix B: The Design and Operation of a Laser . . . . .225
7 Appendix C: Radiation- Hardened Electronics and System
8 Shielding Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227
9 Appendix D: Articles Describing the Operation of
10 Nonnuclear emp Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229
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Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
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Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
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ILLUSTRATIONS
1. U.S. Navy laser weapon system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2. Russia’s truck- mounted laser weapon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3. The x- 37b Orbital Test Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208