The US Army adopted a plan to fund priority military projects, which included the development of energy weapons. This, as reported by Jane's, said Deputy Secretary of the US Army Ryan McCarthy. According to him, by increasing funding for projects, the military plans to accelerate their development. First of all, the military is interested in the development of laser and microwave weapons.
The US military believes that the use of energy weapons will be relatively cheaper than traditional ones. At the same time, the new weapon will allow you to fire at targets as long as the energy source is working.
In total, funding for priority projects is planned to be increased by $ 10 billion. These funds will be allocated in 2021-2024. Among the priority projects of energy weapons, the US Army attributed a 50 kilowatt combat laser based on the Stryker armored vehicle and a 100 kilowatt combat laser on a truck chassis.
What kind of microwave developments were included in the program is not specified. Perhaps we are talking about the creation of ground-based versions of pulsed electromagnetic emitters based on the emitter of the CHAMP cruise missile. Such ammunition was adopted by the US Air Force in May 2019.
In April of this year, it was reported that the Chinese military began testing a shipborne laser warhead, which can also be used as part of a coastal mobile short-range air defense system. Presumably, the combat laser installation is capable of hitting air targets at a distance of up to 5 kilometers.
Vasily Sychev