Directed energy: low power weapons on the rise.

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* As a result of growing demand in Iraq for handheld lasers, the Defense Department is reevaluating its long-term funding priorities for non-lethal weapons.

Low-power laser dazzlers are being used throughout Iraq by U.S. troops at checkpoints to temporarily blind and slow down drivers who are approaching at high speeds.

The dazzlers, which resemble flashlights, emit a low power pulsing green laser light which, according to the Defense Department, causes no lasting eye damage.

The widespread use of these technologies has prompted the Pentagon to shift more research, development and procurement funding to low-power weapons, said David Law, chief of the technology division at the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, based in Quantico, Va.

Development of non-lethal, low power weapons has in the past been limited in favor of more glamorous systems such as missile interceptor high-power lasers. The smaller, simpler weapons are commanding more attention not only because of their greater use in combat, but also because the technology is maturing far faster than that of more expensive and complex systems, Law told National Defense at an Institute for Defense and Government Advancement directed energy conference.

Advanced high power weapons need several more years of testing and development before they can be deployed in combat, Law said.

Examples include the Missile Defense Agency's airborne laser and the Air Force's advanced tactical laser, both of which employ complex high-energy chemical beams. These systems have been in development for many years and have been slowed down by cost increases and lack of progress in maturing the technology.

The airborne laser consists of a chemical oxygen iodine laser mounted on a modified 747-400F aircraft. It would shoot down theater ballistic missiles in their boost phase.

The advanced tactical laser was designed to shoot stationary or moving ground targets from a C-130 cargo aircraft, and also employs a chemical oxygen-iodine laser.

"I don't want to preclude development of the high powered systems ... but maybe we need to say, what do we have now and what can we do?" Law asked.

It is becoming clear that low-power weapons have more utility than the big chemical lasers, said Law. He predicts that they will continue to receive more funding and support in coming years.

Before the handheld laser dazzler gained popularity, the military already had been experimenting with a low-power "personnel halting and stimulation response" rifle, known as PHASR, which uses an illumination technology developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M.

These types of low-power weapons are "having unbelievable effects out in the field," Law said.

Soldiers have often used low-power lasers to deter individuals who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. "You put a big old green dot on them and they're getting the message, 'Oh I'm in the wrong place, I'm going to stop and turn around,'" Law said.

Another low-power weapon, called the active denial system, may soon be deployed to theater to be used as a crowd control device.

Also known as the Silent Guardian, the active denial system employs millimeter waveband energy that creates a painful burning sensation by heating human skin at a shallow depth. The sensation increases in intensity until an individual moves out of the beam or the machine is shut off. The Air Force Research Laboratory, which developed the system, says it does not cause permanent injury.

Non-lethal, crowd control devices such as the Silent Guardian are greatly needed in theater, said Lt. Col. Al Kelly, deputy chief of staff, U.S. Army Alaska. Soldiers do not want to open fire in a civilian crowd, he stressed.

Although low-power weapons are gaining visibility and popularity, there are several impediments to widespread deployment.

Human rights groups have expressed concern about the long-term effects of directed energy weapons. Experts say that low-power weapons are intended to be non-lethal, but they can maim or kill if improperly used. A laser dazzler, for example, could cause blindness, according to researchers Alane Kochems and former Army warrant officer Andrew Gudgel. In a paper tided "The Viability of Directed Energy Weapons," they note that humanitarian organizations have disputed the "non-lethal" nature of the active denial system.

Deployment of both low and high power directed-energy weapons will always be controversial because some people view them as inhumane devices, Kelly said.

Another challenge to fielding these weapons is lack of political support, said Jay Kistler, technical director of air warfare in the office of the undersecretary of defense. He lamented the lack of information made available to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. More outreach, Kistler said, could greatly boost support for these programs.

"We need to get events in front of policy makers," he said at the IDGA conference.

Law said demonstrations of the active denial system helped increase visibility and support within the military services.

"We didn't really learn how we're going to deploy this [active denial system] until we got it out and demoed it across the services ... and we got a joint service perspective on how the military would deploy this specific technology."

Another challenge with directed energy weapons is soldier acceptance, Law said. He noted that soldiers need to be convinced that directed energy is a viable option. "We have to come up with that compelling argument; what does directed energy buy you that's better than kinetic energy?"

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