HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- During a symposium, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command and other Team Redstone members told attendees how high energy laser systems will play a vital role in enabling the Army to transform air and missile defense forces to defeat some of the most challenging air, missile and asymmetric threats.
Members of the Department of Defense, NASA, USASMDC/ARSTRAT and other Team Redstone organizations supported the Directed Energy Professional Society, or DEPS, during the 19th annual Directed Energy Symposium in Huntsville Feb. 13-17.
"The Army recognizes that high energy lasers can be effectively employed in a variety of mission areas and offer unique performance attributes that will contribute directly to addressing existing operational capability gaps," said Thomas E. Webber, SMDC Technical Center acting director. "High energy lasers have the potential to be a low cost, effective complement to kinetic energy to address rocket, artillery and mortar threats; Unmanned Aerial Systems; and cruise missiles.
"The USASMDC/ARSTRAT Technical Center is the Army's lead for high energy laser science and technology development and we are working collaboratively with Army and contractor partners to ensure that high energy laser programs properly integrate with other air and missile defense efforts," Webber added. "Because USASMDC/ARSTRAT is the Army science and technology lead, we are spending a lot of time, money and other resources on high energy lasers and their utility to meet Army challenges."
This symposium provides a forum for the exchange of technical and programmatic information in fields related to directed energy sources, directed energy effects and the development, testing and fielding of directed energy weapons and related technologies.
"Redstone Arsenal and the Tennessee Valley have a strong and proud history in high energy development," said Congressman Morris J. "Mo" Brooks Jr., Alabama's 5th Congressional District representative. "I came to share opening remarks regarding what Redstone Arsenal has done in the past, with respect to lasers, and where we may hope to go in the future."
DEPS was founded in 1999 to foster research, development and transition of directed energy technology for national defense and civil applications through professional communication and education.
"The reason we are in Huntsville for our annual event is because there is a lot of technology in directed energy here at Redstone Arsenal," said Mark Neice, DEPS executive director, "With the Army, the Missile Defense Agency, The Missile and Space Intelligence Center and a growing program within NASA here, Huntsville was deliberately selected this year in order to emphasize the technology efforts that are going on at Redstone Arsenal.
"This has been hugely successful and we really want to thank the people at Redstone for getting the message out," he added. "We want the people to know that this is not science fiction and we are very close to science fact in our abilities with directed energy."
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