Air Force Research targets insurgents' bombs.

Airborne lasers. Electromagnetic Barriers. Born Bots. They sound like weapons used against the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars. Yet, there's no science fiction here. All are current Air Force Research Laboratory technologies, some of which already have been deployed to Iraq.

AFRL developed and delivered what it calls Born Bots. These are small, remotely controlled robots that disable and dispose of roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices used by insurgents in Iraq against U.S. troops.

"The war fighters love them," says Les McFawn, executive director of AFRL. "They have asked for more of these because, obviously, it keeps them out of harm's way."

The technologies available to detect IEDs, however, need to be improved, McFawn tells National Defense. "There is an issue with finding IEDs. If you found one, the Born Bot is great, but clearly there are a lot of these IEDs that we're not finding. So we need some techniques for either finding them or disrupting their placement."

Another AFRL effort got under way in June, when the lab awarded a $1.5 million contract to Alliant Techsystems to develop high-power microwave technologies that will be capable of disabling a variety of IEDs, says Juvenito R. Garcia, a spokesman for AFRL directed energy directorate, at Kirkland Air Force Base, N.M.

AFRL and Alliant, under a previous agreement, had developed a prototype system, called Scorpion I. In tests at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., the Scorpion I neutralized approximately 74 percent of the IEDs it encountered. "We are proud of that achievement and are confident that we will continue to mature the technology with the goal of developing a fieldable and deployable system as rapidly as possible," said Alliant spokesman Bryce Hallowell.

Under the most recent contract, AFRL and Alliant will adapt the Scorpion I design to develop a portable device called Scorpion II, which will find and disarm IEDs.

These projects are only small pieces of a broader Defense Department effort to develop and field anti-IED technologies.

An organization dubbed the Joint IED Defeat Task Force is charged with coordinating all Defense Department projects aimed at countering IEDs. While the services sometimes pursue their own efforts, the task force often coordinates and tries to consolidate redundant development and production programs. In fiscal year 2005, the task force spent $1.4 billion on new technologies.

In March, the task force issued a solicitation for industry bids, under a "broad agency announcement." From more than 800 responses, 32 were selected for additional evaluation. White papers with varying degrees of information were requested for each of the 32. "The review of those white papers is underway now, and we expect to see initial contracts awarded this fall," according to Christine Devries, a spokeswoman for the IED Task Force.

"We have been successful at deploying technology and equipment within weeks and months, rather than months and years," she says in written responses to questions from National Defense. "We realize that we already have plucked the low-hanging fruit. The next-generation technology requires development to meet specific needs," she adds. "Therefore, we also are prepared to pursue and fund promising innovations that might have a longer lead-time before showing return."

Syracuse Research Corp. recently won a $550 million contract from the Army to develop a counter-IED system, known as CREW Spiral 2 (Counter Remote Control Improvised Explosive Device Electronic Warfare System).

The CREW Spiral 2 devices will be installed on Army vehicles and will perform in similar ways to the Scorpion II. Work on this project is estimated to be completed by 2010.

McFawn describes the process of develop ing and improving anti-IED technologies as "boot strapping." Troops take technologies and weapons systems, and develop tactics, procedures, concepts of operation, he explains, and "invariably they figure out better ways to use them than we had originally envisioned. They learn how to employ them and they feed back their experiences."

A major challenge in countering IEDs is access to timely intelligence about the enemy's intent, says McFawn. "To what extent can we anticipate and influence the actions of the enemy?"

Also, researchers at AFRL must try to predict how the enemy will rework commercial technologies to improve the effectiveness of IEDs. "Commercial technology is highly capable and can be adapted for military use by groups like the terrorists, and we need to be able to proactively adapt and rapidly develop technologies in response. The whole issue of speed is key," says McFawn.

Scientists at AFRL, meanwhile, also are focusing on technologies that the military will need in 10 to 20 years. One example of such research is in the field of nano-science, particularly with highly energetic materials. AFRL envisions doubling the propulsive power for missiles and rockets, or basically creating high-energy explosives that, pound for pound, are 10 to 50 times greater than the ones used today, McFawn says.

Other long-term projects include the development of speed-of-light weaponry, large thin-film optics, electromagnetic protection and airborne lasers. Speed-of-light weapons will be smaller, lighter and more powerful than conventional systems, Garcia says. Large thin-film optics, or mirrors the size of football fields, could be used in space to direct energy from one site to another.

Directed energy can be applied in defensive systems, McFawn adds. "You can envision a directed-energy system that basically provides a total barrier around an air base or around an aircraft ... That concept of being able to have a sphere of electromagnetic protection--be it high-power microwave or high-power laser--to protect yourself, is a pretty powerful concept."

In the near future, research will be pushed towards developing the airborne laser, a megawatt-class device mounted aboard a Boeing 747-400 freighter to destroy ballistic missiles shortly after launch.

Andrea Pinchak is a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy