Directed-Energy: Inevitable and Imperative

By Henry "Trey" Obering III

Trey Obering is a Booz Allen Hamilton Executive Vice President based in McLean, Virginia. He retired from the US Air Force as a Lieutenant General with more than 35 years of e­­xperience in space and defense systems development, integration, and operations. He served as Director of the 8,500-person Missile Defense Agency, Office of the Secretary of Defense, and prior to that assignment, planned and programmed 68 joint, Air Force and international programs with a $28 billion budget as Mission Area Director for Information Dominance on the Air Staff. Obering has twice earned the DoD's highest non-combat award, the Defense Distinguished Service Medal for leadership. He received a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from Notre Dame University and an M.S. degree in Astronautical Engineering from Stanford University.

Directed-energy weapons have been an ambition of militaries across the world, since Archimedes focused the sun to set fire to Roman ships in 212 B.C.

What was once considered a science project is now a necessity, and our continued military superiority depends on the outcome. Why? Our adversaries have made significant directed-energy advances of their own. And here at home, funding challenges—not to mention the hurdles common to other disruptive technologies—threaten to derail our progress.

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