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20 April 2015

Can Lasers Save America's Military Dominance?

April 19, 2015

"After a nearly half-century quest, the U.S. military today is on the cusp of finally fielding operationally relevant directed-energy weapons."

Technology is an indispensable component of war. Since the first human picked up a rock in anger, warfighters have leveraged technology to increase their advantage on the battlefield. In modern times, technology has allowed combatants to fight at vast distances, launching missiles across the globe, and has expanded warfare into the air, undersea and into space.

Modern militaries invest heavily in new technologies to modernize their forces, but determining which technologies hold the greatest promise is more art than science. It requires militaries to think on multiple levels simultaneously.

They must assess the potential utility of a new technology—how much operational or strategic value it will convey. They must weigh the maturity of the technology and the likelihood that their investments will pay off. And they must assess their investments relative to both alternative investments and potential adversary countermeasures that might negate or erode their hard-fought advantages. All of these decisions must be made under conditions of extreme uncertainty and possibly enemy deception.

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