The "bolts" of energy fired from the particle beam weapon would enter into the target's materials, passing the energy onto the atoms that compose the target. If a functional particle beam weapon could be built, it would use its power source to accelerate electrons, protons or hydrogen atoms through the tunnel, which would focus these charged particles into a beam that would be fired at the target. Such a weapon would essentially be composed of two parts: a power source and an accelerating tunnel. If a beam could be fired at those speeds, it would, for all intents and purposes, freeze the targeted object.Ī particle beam weapon would be able to generate power many times more destructive than any laser in development. Department of Defense is also considering a particle beam weapon, which would be able to fire beams of subatomic particles, at near the speed of light, at a military target. The laser and the object it is trying to hit will likely be traveling at different speeds, making it an almost impossible shot. Imagine trying to shoot a bird from aboard a supersonic jet. One of the problems with space-based lasers is that they would have to be fixed to a moving satellite as they tried to hit another moving object moving at thousands of miles per hour. Right now, this is the most promising of the spaced-based lasers in development. In 1996, TRW tested a COIL laser that produced a beam with hundreds of kilowatts of power that lasted several seconds. This smaller wavelength means that smaller optics could be used to develop a space-based lasing system. This transfer of energy causes the iodine atoms to become excited, creating a laser with a wavelength of about 1.3 microns, smaller than either of the two previously mentioned lasers. In this laser system, a reaction generated between chlorine and hydrogen peroxide excites oxygen atoms, which transfer their energy to iodine atoms. The third type of chemical laser that might be used in ballistic missile defense is the chemical oxygen iodine laser (COIL), which made its debut in 1978. This type of laser system was used in tests to shoot down a rocket at the White Sands Missile Range in 1996. In 1980, TRW demonstrated a deuterium fluoride laser, called the Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser (MIRACL), that can produce more than one megawatt of power. Because deuterium atoms have more mass than hydrogen atoms, this laser has a longer wavelength, about 3.5 microns, and can transmit better through the atmosphere. Instead of using molecular hydrogen, deuterium is used to react with atomic fluoride. The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization has already demonstrated a hydrogen fluoride laser with megawatt power in a simulated space environment.Īnother laser, similar to the hydrogen fluoride system, is the deuterium fluoride laser system. At that wavelength, the hydrogen fluoride laser beam would be soaked up by the Earth's atmosphere, meaning that it is most likely to be used in space-to-space combat as part of the Space-Based Laser program. This reaction creates a wavelength between 2.7 and 2.9 microns. Atomic fluorine reacts with molecular hydrogen to produce excited hydrogen fluoride molecules. Air Force compared the workings of the hydrogen fluoride laser system to the way a rocket engine works. In a 1998 report titled Laser Weapons in Space: A Critical Assessment (PDF file), Lt. While a space-based laser system is still about 20 years from being realized, there are three lasers being considered for it, including hydrogen fluoride (HF), deuterium fluoride (DF) and chemical oxygen iodine (COIL). All three are a type of chemical laser that involves the mixing of chemicals inside the weapon to create a laser beam. There are at least three laser systems being developed for either space-based or ground-based weapons.
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