The Pentagon spends $1 billion annually to develop laser weapons, but is still far from the desired result

The U.S. Department of Defense invests $1 billion annually in the development of microwave and laser weapons.

However, the US authorities fear that the funding will not have the desired result.

What is known

According to the Accounts Chamber of the Government(Government Accountability Office), the US military is facing challenges in developing directional weapons. The federal agency believes that they need to consolidate efforts so that developments do not fall into the so-called "valley of death" (valley of death), when investments are made, but the result is not yet received.

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Working on different types of directional weaponsactions are handled by the Air Force, the Navy and the US Army. The most famous projects are High Energy Lasers (HEL) and High Power Microwaves (HPM). The first weapon is capable of destroying missiles and drones with a laser, while the second can shoot down several drones at the same time.

HEL and HPM are expected to haveunlimited ammunition, and their operation will be cheaper compared to traditional types of weapons. For example, an interceptor to destroy an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead costs $111 million.

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Each development has its drawbacks.HEL and HPM are difficult to use over a long period of time. If we talk purely about laser weapons, then in the fog its accuracy drops sharply. As for the HPM, due to its novelty, the military has not yet developed plans for handling it. It is possible that microwave weapons will indiscriminately hit both enemy targets and civilian objects or allied forces in combat. In addition, no one is sure of the long-term effects of exposure to microwaves on humans.

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In conclusion, we add that the military of the whole worldhave been working on directed energy weapons in one form or another for many decades. Modern American programs are rooted in Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. The plan of the 40th President of the United States was called "Star Wars" (Star Wars) and involved the placement of energy weapons on satellites. As we can see, it failed.

But it is not entirely clear why there are weapons in space,if its destruction will lead to the appearance of a large amount of debris, which can harm both "our" and "foreign" spacecraft. Moreover, every country that can afford to work on such a project has intercontinental ballistic missiles that reach anywhere in the world.