Michael Griffin, defense undersecretary for research and engineering, has said the U.S. government and industry should advance the development of directed energy weapons amid the emergence of superpower competition with countries such as Russia and China, DoD News reported Wednesday.
“We have to have the technological leverage,†Griffin said Wednesday at the 2018 Directed Energy Summit in Washington.
“That realization was responsible for the creation of my office, to elevate the role of technology maturation and deployment and I believe it is responsible for the renewed interest in directed energy weapons,†he added.
He said maritime, ground, space and air domains are the four venues where directed energy weapon systems can be applied and such venues should require the warfighting tactics, logistics requirements, manpower support and basing strategies to be different.
“I would urge us not to think that one size fits all,†noted Griffin, a 2018 Wash100 recipient.
“I would urge us to keep a lot of arrows in our quiver as we go forward figuring out how we’re going to translate directed energy technologies into warfighting systems that are going to defend this country and our allies.â€