Nightcrawler
Member
I found a very interesting article on the potentials of particle beam weapons, and their military superiority to lasers. I think the article is somewhat dated (1984), but it can be found here.
Some interesting exerpts:
When they make a 10-12 pound, shoulder-fired, repeating model that has an effective range of a few kilometers and is powered by an easily replacable power cell, then I'll be really interested.
A large endoatmospheric particle beam weapon has a lot of potential, though...imagine aircraft, missiles, even artillery shells being swatted from the sky as soon as they're detected. It'd change the nature of warfare in several fundamental ways...
Some interesting exerpts:
lethality
One of the phenomenological aspects under study is lethality. Lethality refers to the general effectiveness of a weapon in engaging and destroying a target. There is no doubt that a particle beam is capable of destroying a military target. However, a knowledge is needed of the precise effect that a particle beam would have when it impinges upon various-type targets composed of different materials and components. The problem is made more difficult from the fact that the particle beam can vary according to particle type, particle energy, and beam power. To gain such an understanding, beam/target interaction is the subject of continuing technological investigations and studies.
In assessing the unique value of a particle beam as a potential weapon system, it is important to consider six characteristics that would give the beam weapon a high degree of lethality.
Beam velocity. The particles "fired" by a PBW will travel at nearly the speed of light (186,000 miles per second). The advantage of such a high-velocity beam is that computing the aim point for a moving target is greatly simplified. The effect of this extremely high velocity is essentially to fix a target, even if the target attempts evasive action. For example, if the weapon were required to shoot at a reentry vehicle (RV) some 50 kilometers distant and traveling at the high speed of 20,000 feet per second, the RV would travel only about 5 feet from the time the weapon fired until it was struck by the beam. It is this aspect of PBWs that makes feasible the task of "shooting a bullet with a bullet," as the ABM targeting problem is sometimes characterized.
Beam dwell time. Beam dwell time refers to the time that a beam remains fixed on a target. In an endoatmospheric weapon, the power of the beam would be sufficient to destroy the target instantaneously (in millionths of a second) upon impact, and no beam dwell time would be required. In space, where the required power of the beam is considerably less, some very short beam dwell time may be necessary.2
Rapid-aim capability. The particle beam may be redirected very rapidly from one target to another by means of a magnetic field. This field would itself be generated by an electric current. Varying the current would change the magnetic field intensity, which would deflect the charged particles in the desired direction. Within certain limits, no physical motion of the weapon would be required as it engages enemy targets. This capability to very rapidly aim and redirect the beam would enhance significantly the weapon's capability to engage multiple targets.
Beam penetration. The subatomic particles that constitute a beam have great penetrating power. Thus, interaction with the target is not restricted to surface effects, as it is with a laser. When impinging upon a target, a laser creates a blow-off of target material that tends to enshroud the target and shield it from the laser beam. Such beam/target interaction problems would not exist for the particle beam with its penetrating nature. Particle beams would be quite effective in damaging internal components or might even explode a target by transferring a massive amount of energy into it (the catastrophic kill mechanism). Furthermore, there would be no realistic means of defending a target against the beam; target hardening through shielding or materials selection would be impractical or ineffective.
Ancillary kill mechanisms. In addition to the direct kill mechanism of the beam, ancillary kill mechanisms would be available. Within the atmosphere, a secondary cone of radiation symmetrical about the beam, would be created by the beam particles as they collide with the atoms of the air. This cone would be comprised of practically every type of ionizing radiation known (i.e., x-rays, neutrons, alpha and beta particles, and so on). A tertiary effect from the beam would be the generation of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) by the electric current pulse of the beam. This EMP would be very disruptive to any electronic components of a target. Thus, even if the main beam missed, the radiation cone and accompanying EMP could kill a target. While the EMP and the radiation cone would not be present in an exoatmospheric use of the weapon, there are other possible options in space that are not available in the atmosphere. Many intriguing possibilities come to mind. For example, using lower levels of beam power, the particle beam could expose photographic film in any satellite carrying photographic equipment, or it could damage sensitive electronic components in a satellite.
All-weather capability. Another advantage of a particle beam over the high-energy laser in an endoatmospheric application would be an all-weather capability. While a laser can be thwarted completely by such weather effects as clouds, fog, and rain, these atmospheric phenomena would have little effect on the penetrating power of a particle-beam weapon.
The propagation of a charged-particle beam through the atmosphere is, in fact, the pacing issue for the endoatmospheric weapon. It has been theoretically calculated that specific threshold values of the beam parameters (beam current, particle energy, beam pulse length, etc.) are required for a beam to propagate through air with reliability. While the values of these parameters are classified, no particle-beam accelerator is currently capable of creating a beam with the required parameters.
Two crucially important experimental programs are exploring the phenomena of atmospheric beam propagation. The first program, underway at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, involves experiments with an accelerator called the Advanced Test Accelerator (ATA), the construction of which was completed in the fall of 1982. The second program, a joint Air Force/Sandia National Laboratories program, similarly is aimed at investigating beam propagation through the use of a radial-pulse-line accelerator (RADLAC). Continuation of the U.S. program to explore the development of an endoatmospheric weapon will depend on a positive prognosis from these two experimental studies of atmospheric beam propagation.
THE development of a particle-beam weapon by the United States is a logical follow-on to the current high-energy laser development program. The weapon's potential lethality against high-speed, multiple targets, coupled with its capacity for selective destruction, would make the PBW particularly suitable for the space defense role. While some of the technological and operational issues to be resolved appear formidable at this time, it is far too early to discount the eventual operational effectiveness of such a weapon. Several scientists have argued that the PBW cannot be built or effectively deployed, creating or exacerbating doubts in other individuals. Yet those so concerned might do well to recall that in 1949, Vannevar Bush--a highly respected national leader with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering who had served as head of the U.S. Office of Scientific Research and Development during World War II--argued that technical problems made the development of an effective ICBM virtually impossible without astronomical costs.6 Nine years later, in 1958, the United States had its first operational ICBM, the Atlas.
The PBW offers a possibility for defending effectively against a launched ICBM, and even a glimmer of hope toward this end is worthy of pursuit. Should the United States terminate its exploration of particle-beam technology, we would be opening the door for the Soviets to proceed at their own pace toward building such a weapon. We can ill afford technological surprise in an area as crucial as beam weapons.
When they make a 10-12 pound, shoulder-fired, repeating model that has an effective range of a few kilometers and is powered by an easily replacable power cell, then I'll be really interested.
A large endoatmospheric particle beam weapon has a lot of potential, though...imagine aircraft, missiles, even artillery shells being swatted from the sky as soon as they're detected. It'd change the nature of warfare in several fundamental ways...
