EW Academy · Contents · Chapter 19 · Nederlandse versie
Chapter 19: Directed Energy Weapons
Concentrated EM energy as a weapon: High-Energy Laser (HEL) and High-Power Microwave (HPM). How they work, the spectrum of effects from dazzle to destroy, the status of the main systems at the end of 2026 and the lessons from their first use, a worked example against swarms, and counter-DEW.
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19.1Beyond the laser rangefinder
The laser chapter ( Laser and military applications ) treats lasers mainly as measuring and marking instruments : rangefinding and target designation. Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) go a step further: they use concentrated electromagnetic…
Read §19.1 →19.2High-Energy Laser (HEL)
A HEL focuses optical power on one point and heats or burns the target: drones, missiles, optics and sensors. Its strengths are speed-of-light effect, pinpoint precision, a low cost per shot and a deep magazine. But the limitations are…
Read §19.2 →19.3High-Power Microwave (HPM)
An HPM weapon transmits a very short, very powerful radio pulse that overloads electronics — a bit like a lightning strike close by. It does not need to aim precisely: everything in the beam takes the hit.
Read §19.3 →19.4A spectrum of effects: dazzle, deny, destroy
DEW runs from soft to hard , and in doing so touches exactly on the EW material of earlier chapters:
Read §19.4 →19.6From trial to service: the status at the end of 2026
For a long time DEW remained a promise: impressive trials, little use. Since 2024 that has been changing, driven by the drone war. Against hundreds of cheap drones, air defence missiles costing tens of thousands of euros or more apiece…
Read §19.6 →19.7Working out a laser defence
A laser does not shoot, it holds on. Every target takes a few seconds, and the rest of the swarm does not wait in the meantime.
Read §19.7 →19.5Counter-DEW and challenges
Like every capability, DEW provokes countermeasures, and it has its own limitations:
Read §19.5 →