We're changing formats a little bit. We’ll be doing a daily intelligence brief aimed at adding more value for paid subscribers. Tuesdays, we’ll be publishing The Dead Drop, which will be available for all subscribers, instead of one paid and one free article per week. The workload may be heavier for a bit, but may balance out in the end.
Today's Dead Drop delves into a topic often relegated to the realm of conspiracy theories: directed energy weapons (DEWs). Yet, these futuristic implements of war, shooting laser beams and microwave pulses, are very much a part of our reality and are finally receiving the official acknowledgment they deserve. The U.S. Army has officially rolled out the Palletized High Energy Laser (P-HEL), employing it to blast drones from the sky at a cost of less than $10 per shot—a budget-friendly alternative to the more expensive missiles traditionally used.
DARPA, the Pentagon's laboratory of high-stakes innovation, is aggressively advancing projects like HELLADS and WARDEN. These initiatives aim to enhance the portability and power of these high-energy weapons, pushing the boundaries of current military capabilities.
History has taught us that every military advancement initially framed as a defensive breakthrough soon finds itself repurposed for offensive measures. The atomic bomb was once touted as a deterrent and tear gas, banned in warfare, is routinely used by police forces against protesters within our own cities. This trend suggests a likely trajectory for DEWs from strictly defensive assets to tools of aggression.
As we weaponize photons, it's crucial to note that China and Russia are not merely observers but are actively pursuing their own directed energy weapons. These nations are preparing capabilities that could extend beyond neutralizing threats to disabling satellites and aircraft, indicating a significant escalation in global arms development.
The potential misuse of such technologies also brings up pressing concerns about government overreach. Each new technological advance brings with it the shadow of surveillance and control, transforming tools meant to protect into mechanisms of political power enforcement.
As DEWs continue to evolve and proliferate, they redefine warfare and the nature of international power dynamics. These weapons promise to change the landscape of conflict, making battlefields as invisible and pervasive as the energy beams they deploy. One can only imagine the implications for both national security and personal freedom, especially considering the potential for these weapons to be turned against the very citizens they were designed to protect.
The dead drop takeaway: Directed energy weapons, while a significant advancement in military technology, pose complex challenges that stretch beyond the battlefield. Their development and deployment necessitate a careful examination of not just the technological implications but also the ethical, legal, and social consequences. As these weapons become as commonplace as drones, we must consider whether their use will lead us to a safer world or merely make destruction more efficient and detached. It's a critical conversation for our times, highlighting the need for all of us to keep a vigilant watch on how this technology is it used, and almost inevitably abused.
Until next time, stay cool, stay covert, stay classy, and go to sound off in our comments section:
Found this post via a DuckDuckGo search query (slow news month for my "directed energy" Google Alert web crawlers), and I just wanted to mention I've been curating articles about "directed energy weapons", while filtering out the conspiracy nonsense: the /r/DirectedEnergyWeapons subreddit.
I hope you find more interesting content to write about here on Substack.
I think Machiavelli said republics ( nations) need two things to be great: good laws and great arms. But before all else be armed.
I know we spend (and very frequently) waste lots of money on arms.
But the toothpaste thing. What choice have we?
Don’t you think in the end there is something very basic to all leaders, at least Russian.
They don’t want their societies obliterated?
Russia had ample time with much more maniacal leaders than Putin to act otherwise, and yet the world never blew up.
Arms invention is not going away.
We just need to have some hope in the basic goodness of people.
And arm while we hope.