Despite advancements in technology, there might not be political will to start equipping Air Force planes with lasers, according to Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., co-chair of the Congressional Directed Energy Caucus.
"I'm just not sure that that's really where the interest or the money is going forward," Lamborn said Tuesday. "Advanced systems unfortunately can take a back seat if sequestration continues to limit dollars."
He was speaking at the Directed Energy Summit hosted by defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton and the think tank Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
The Air Force's previous effort, the Airborne Laser Test Bed, was scrapped in 2012 due to funding issues. The modified Boeing 747 designed to test the lasers was sent to the scrapyard at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, nicknamed "the Boneyard."
But Lamborn said he hopes to change the minds of many of his congressional colleagues, arguing that directed energy weapons can provide the American military with an edge in the coming years and should be a priority for the public and private sectors
"Every new defense technology was at one time unknown and unproven," he said. "Bureaucratic inertia must be overcome."
Maj. Gen. Jerry Harris, vice commander of Air Combat Command, said the Air Force has had multiple successes in testing directed energy systems composed of chemical and electronic lasers or electromagnetic waves.
As far back as 1973, he said, the Air Force successfully shot down a drone with a carbon dioxide laser. And in 2010, the Airborne Laser Test Bed was able to destroy a ballistic missile within two minutes of launch.
Lamborn said any investment made in directed energy research could save taxpayers more down the road. Laser systems can be fired for only a few dollars — a far cry from more expensive conventional missiles.
"I don't need to tell you that Congress these days pays a lot of attention to things that save money," he said. "If it's truly possible for a beam of directed energy to destroy an incoming missile for 50 cents' worth of fuel, then we can flip the cost curve in our favor."
Harris agreed, saying that now the military must resort to "shooting a $500,000 missile at a $500 threat," but that lasers can be fired for only about a liter of fuel to power the electronics.
Directed energy needs to be a part of American capability in the future, Lamborn said.
"Our technological edge has kept our enemies at bay and helped provide an edge and a backbone to our foreign policy of peace through strength," he said. "Americans have always led the world in creativity and innovation. Directed energy is on the cutting edge of future technological progress."
