Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Air Force releases call to industry for directed energy experimentation as part of flight planPublished Sept. 26, 2017
                    
                    By Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
            **WASHINGTON (AFNS) --**The Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation office recently released a request for information to industry as part of market research analyses in support of an upcoming experimentation demonstration using directed energy technology to counter unmanned aircraft systems.

This experimentation campaign comes at the direction of the Air Force Directed Energy Weapons Flight Plan, signed in May 2017 by the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

“We identified directed energy as a game-changing technology area in our Air Force strategy and pressed forward with developing a flight plan to define what we needed to do to get from the laboratory to operational capability,” said Dr. Greg Zacharias, Chief Scientist of the Air Force. “Experimentation and prototyping are critical tools to help make this happen.”

The Air Force is seeking information regarding the industry capability to provide a directed energy weapons system for targeting group 1 and group 2 unmanned aircraft systems during a counter-UAS operation. The SDPE office is planning the experimentation campaign for fiscal year 2018.

“Forward base defense was one of the used cases for directed energy outlined in the flight plan,” said Dr. Michael Jirjis, experimentation campaign program manager. “We’re looking to assess capabilities and maturity of directed energy technologies available today and in the near-term.”

Directed energy weapons, which includes high energy lasers and high power microwaves, can provide the ability to precisely engage targets of interest with little to no collateral impacts and provide protection to Air Force assets that must operate in harm’s way.

“Experimentation will be key to the deployment of directed energy weapons, but the required critical thinking will come from all corners of the Air Force, not just scientists and engineers,” said Jirjis. “There will be collaboration from warfighters, planners, logisticians and more.”

The request for information can be found at the fedbidopps.gov webpage.USAF 



Airman 



Airmen 



Strategic Development 



chief of staff of the Air Force 



CSAF 



SecAF 



directed energy experimentation 



Flight Plan 



capability 



Experimentation 



SDPE Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF, CSAF, CMSAF begin Indo-Pacific trip focused on ACE
                    
                    DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fightInnovation
                F-16s arrive to be modified for autonomous testing
                    
                    AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalistsMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil