Effects of Directed Energy Weapons is an encyclopedic treatment of how Directed Energy Weapons work, how the energy of these weapons is propagated to the target, and how the weapon/beam-target interaction creates effects (damage) in the target.

This is a technical exposition, written at the undergraduate physics and engineering level that could serve either as a text book or as a reference text for technical practitioners. The text addresses Kinetic Energy Weapons in addition to Lasers, Microwaves and Particle Beams.

About the Author:

Philip E. Nielsen is a director and senior technical advisor for MacAulay-Brown, Incorporated, a defense engineering services firm headquartered in Dayton, Ohio. Prior to joining MacAulay-Brown, Dr. Nielsen served on active duty with the U.S. Air Force (USAF) for 26 years, retiring as colonel.

During this period, he served in a variety of positions related to the research, development, and acquisition of advanced weapon systems. He received the USAF Research and Development Award for contribution to high energy laser physics in 1975.

Download Effects of Directed Energy Weapons by Philip E. Nielsen

PDF format, 1.38MB, 368Pages.

Preface:

Directed energy weapons are no different. But while there are books and manuals that deal with the issues affecting the utility of nuclear missiles and rifles, there is no comparable source of information for directed energy weapons. I have tried to fill that void with this book.

Weapons are devices which deliver sufficient energy to targets to damage them. Weapon design involves a dialog between weapon designers, and military planners. Designers create means of projecting energy, and planners have targets that they would like to destroy. Effective design requires a knowledge of the targets and the circumstances of their engagement, and effective planning requires a knowledge of the weapons and their characteristics. But in new and emerging areas of weaponry, designers and planners often don’t speak the same language. As a result, designers can operate in ignorance of operational realities, and planners can assume that anything involving new technology will meet all their needs.

This book should also serve as an introduction to the language of directed energy weapons for military planners and other non-technical persons who need to understand what the engineers and scientists involved in their development are talking about.

Chapter 1 outlines basic philosophies and ideas that are used throughout the book. The other chapters are each devoted to a specific type of directed energy weapon, and are reasonably self-contained.

Therefore, a reader interested primarily in one weapon type will find it sufficient to read Chapter 1 together with the chapter of interest. In some cases, duplication is avoided by developing topics in great detail in one chapter, and presenting them again in a summary form in other chapters. The reader is referred to the detailed discussion for any elaboration that may be required.

I have assumed no technical background other than that associated with an introductory college-level physics course. Some knowledge of algebra and trigonometry is assumed. A knowledge of calculus would be helpful but is not required. Equations are provided so that those with sufficient interest and motivation can extend the results in the text. Numerous graphs and examples will enable casual readers to skim over any material which seems too mathematical.

Weaponry is not a precise science. Propagation paths and target details are never known precisely. You wouldn’t want to go hunting for bear with a rifle whose bullet was precisely designed to just penetrate the skin of an average bear, only to come up against a bear that had just put on weight for the winter! You’d probably prefer a rifle designed to work against the biggest conceivable bears. The same is true of directed energy weapons.

Too much precision in effects calculations is unwarranted, and a certain amount of conservatism is required in defining operational parameters.

Therefore, I have kept arguments physical and intuitive at the expense of mathematical rigor. All formulas and expressions should be considered correct to “zero order”—good enough to produce answers within an order of magnitude of the “correct” result. No attempt has been made to incorporate the latest and most accurate experimental data, as these are under continual revision. Rather, the material presented here is designed to enable you to place theories and results in the proper context. Extensive notes and references are provided for those who’d care to go into any topic in greater depth.

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About directed-energy weapon:

A directed-energy weapon is a type of weapon that emits energy in a particular direction by a means other than a projectile. It transfers energy to a target for a desired effect. Some of these weapons are real or practicable; some are science fiction. The energy is in various forms:

    * Electromagnetic radiation (typically lasers or masers).
    * Particles with mass (particle beam weapons).
    * Fictional weapons often use some sort of radiation or energetic particle that does not exist in the real world; or where the physical nature of the energy and its means of transmission is not detailed and the visible effects would be impossible in the real world.

Some of these weapons are known as death rays or rayguns and are usually portrayed as projecting energy at a person or object to kill or destroy.

Some lethal directed-energy weapons are under active research and development, but most examples appear in science fiction (or non-functional toys and film props).

(From wikipedia, the free encyclopeida)

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