• Context- Directed energy weapons or DEWs are among the next bunch of military technologies that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is working on.

What is Directed Energy Weapons?

• A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy, including laser, microwaves and particle beams.
• Potential applications of this technology include weapons that target personnel, missiles, vehicles, and optical devices

DRDOs take on Directed Energy Weapons:

• DEWs would play a major role in future warfare.
• DEWs are extremely important today. The world is moving towards them.
• In the country too, DRDO is doing a lot of experiments.
• DRDO have been working in this area for the past three to four years to develop 10­kW and 20­kW [weapons].

Directed energy weapons could have several Main Advantages over conventional weaponry:

• Direct energy weapons can be used discreetly; radiation above and below the visible spectrum is invisible and does not generate sound.
• Light is only very slightly altered by gravity, giving it an almost perfectly flat trajectory.
• It is also practically immune to both windage and Coriolis force. This makes aim much more precise and extends the range to line-of-sight, limited only by beam diffraction and spread, and absorption or scattering by intervening atmospheric contents.
• Lasers travel at light-speed and have near infinite range and therefore, are suitable for use in space warfare.
• Laser weapons potentially eliminate many logistical problems in terms of ammunition supply, as long as there is enough energy to power it the laser ammunition supply is assured.
• Depending on several operational factors, Directed Energy Weapons may be cheaper to operate than conventional weapons in certain contexts.

Significance of Laser based or Microwave Based high-power DEWs

• Laser based or microwave based high-power DEWs can quietly disable enemy drones or missiles temporarily or permanently without leaving physical debris.
• In contrast, the ASAT or anti-satellite missile that the DRDO tested on March 27, killed an orbiting Indian target satellite and left hundreds of small pieces as debris for a few months.

Problems with laser weapons:

Blooming:

• Laser beams begin to cause plasma breakdown in the atmosphere at energy densities of around one megajoule per cubic centimetre.
• This effect, called “blooming,” causes the laser to defocus and disperse energy into the surrounding air.
• Blooming can be more severe if there is fog, smoke, or dust in the air.