Lasers can be a component of the targeting system in a weapon (target designation). Otherwise, the main categories of directed energy weapons are: lasers, microwaves, and particle beams. Laser DEWs are mainly for a "thermal kill" of the target, and range between 100 kW and 1 MW of output power. Microwave DEWs are mainly for electromagnetic warfare applications (e.g., jamming). Their physics makes it difficult to produce a small spot on target (large wavelengths). Particle beams were a subject of interest in the early SDI years (1980s), but they turned out to be impractical from the standpoint of beam generation, propagation, and directional control.
Lasers can be a component of the targeting system in a weapon (target designation). Otherwise, the main categories of directed energy weapons are: lasers, microwaves, and particle beams. Laser DEWs are mainly for a "thermal kill" of the target, and range between 100 kW and 1 MW of output power. Microwave DEWs are mainly for electromagnetic warfare applications (e.g., jamming). Their physics makes it difficult to produce a small spot on target (large wavelengths). Particle beams were a subject of interest in the early SDI years (1980s), but they turned out to be impractical from the standpoint of beam generation, propagation, and directional control.
Cool. Thanks for the info.