28 July 2024

JUST IN: Directed Energy, Space Key to Future Missile Defense

Kara Thompson

Developing innovative technology is key to defending against adversaries, and directed energy and space are two areas the United States must continue investing in to defeat future threats, the leader of Army Space and Missile Defense Command said July 23.

We have entered an age where threats and adversaries can come at you from all angles, which the United States must be prepared for, said Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey, commanding general of Army Space and Missile Defense Command. It is also a landscape that is constantly changing, so adaptation and alterations are always being sought.

“The evolution of the threat, the pace is so fast,” Gainey said during an Association of the United States Army event. “We would introduce capability into a theater and as soon as it's introduced, we'll already see countermeasures being implemented. From an integrated air missile defense perspective, the modernization is going to be key.”

In response to this constantly evolving threat, industry is developing a variety of solutions for the future battlefield, such as directed energy weapons, which use electromagnetic energy to disrupt or damage a target, and non-kinetic capabilities such as cyber, electromagnetic spectrum or space systems, Gainey said.

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