Technology Maturation Initiatives

The Directed Energy Demonstrator Development (DEDD) project reduces technology risk and matures critical directed energy technologies to support the Missile Defense System. This project directly aligns with the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering efforts and provides the foundational data, components, and advancement required for connected non-kinetic weapon systems. The DEDD project is comprised of two focused efforts. - Non-Kinetic - Electronic Protection The non-kinetic effort is focused on demonstrating an accelerated directed energy kill chain suitable for ground, air, and space applications, directly supporting the Missile Defense Agency. The objective is to mature and integrate the technologies required to acquire, track, and defeat advanced missile threats in all phases-of-flight from all military domains. Analytical products and digital environments will enable rapid Concept of Operations (CONOPS) evolutions and Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTP) maturation in Wargames, Exercise, and other demonstration events. This project will mature next-generation components that enable lethal power levels within a package suitable for eventual weapon system integration. This work includes: - Kill Chain Demonstration and Lethality: This focuses on maturing the functional elements of the kill chain. It includes developing and testing high-performance tracking lasers, detectors, and algorithms to handover to kinetic and non-kinetic systems. As needed, this effort will execute lethality demonstrations using high-power, non-kinetic weapons. - Enabling SWaP: To ensure the kill chain components can be integrated onto Service platforms. This includes maturing ruggedized, lightweight subsystems (e.g beam directors, thermal management, and power systems) capable of handling the demands of a SWaP constrained environment. Success in this area is a prerequisite for demonstrating utility in new service platforms. The Electronic Protection effort addresses the critical need to ensure that Missile Defense System (MDS) assets, particularly advanced radars, can maintain performance and survivability in a modern electronic environment. This project will test and demonstrate advanced electronic protection techniques for MDS radars.