DEWD Research Project
Coming Soon Announcement
APEX OTA CONSORTIUM COMING SOON ANNOUNCEMENT
ANNOUNCEMENT: APEX-CSA-004
DATE: 6 February 2025
PROJECT NAME: Directed Energy Workforce Development (DEWD) Research Project
AUTHORITY: 10 U.S.C. §4021 (Research Projects), 10 U.S.C. §4022 (Prototype Projects)
CUSTOMER: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD (R&E) – Critical Technologies, Directed Energy; Joint Directed Energy Transition Office (JDETO)
KEY TECHNICAL AREA(S): Energy Storage and Batteries, Microelectronics, Critical Materials, Emerging Technologies
DESCRIPTION
As the Department of Defense (DoD) advances the state of the art for High Energy Lasers (HEL) and High Power Microwaves (HPM) sources, associated critical components must also be advanced for both power level and ruggedness with the goal to fill performance gaps to support the operation with the new sources and the transition to deployed operations. Additionally, advancements in beam control and antenna technology are required to keep pace with evolving threats in more complex environments. Modeling and simulation (M&S) of new DE concepts and propagation of the laser or microwave beam through a variety of environmental conditions is critical to providing accurate performance estimates. Ultimately, a modular, smaller, and lighter solution is being sought for the enabling technologies that can be configured to support a wide variety of missions and system architectures in future Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs).
Products from the DEWD Research Project will range from proof of concept virtual models of novel designs with supporting literature search and technical analysis to component hardware technology across laser and microwave portions of the spectrum along with advances in software for beam control, tactical decision aids, and airspace deconfliction. To address the breadth of the potential technology advancements to transition DEWs in quantity at an affordable unit cost, a wide variety of innovations from an expanded group of academic institutions and non-traditional industrial base will be required. The products from this effort may also provide modeling and simulation tools to enable improved weapon effects predictions, interoperability, collateral effects, and mission level operational analysis.