Directed energy weapons—where are they headed?

A futuristic look at the nation's defensive weapons systems sometimes includes visions of space‐based lasers or particle beams, able to direct their energy precisely and devastatingly upon any target. The Defense Department has several technology programs that deal with these directed‐energy weapons, although practical implementation appears to be at least a decade away. President Reagan may now wish to place more stress on such programs. In a speech to the nation on 23 March, the President proposed a “comprehensive and intensive effort to define the long‐term R&D program” on defensive weapons against ballistic missiles. He hoped to ensure peace by rendering such nuclear weapons launchers “impotent and inoperative.” One ingredient of such a program might be a land‐ or space‐based system of lasers and particle beams.