Sec. 1641. Directed energy programs for ballistic and hypersonic missile defense
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Congress finds the following: In the fiscal year 2021 budget request of the Department of Defense, the Secretary of Defense removed all funding from the Missile Defense Agency to conduct research, engineering, or development for directed energy technologies that could be applicable for ballistic and hypersonic missile defense, and this removal of funding continued in the fiscal year 2022 budget request of the Department, despite Congress appropriating funding for fiscal year 2021 for these efforts.
In January 2020, an independent Senior Executive Review Team noted that If successfully developed, the unique features of diode pumped alkali laser, an efficient electrically powered, relatively short wavelength gas laser with the potential to deliver megawatt power with near diffraction limited beam quality from a single aperture would provide the Department of Defense and the Missile Defense Agency with an important strategic technology with the potential for an attractive size, weight, and power.
Such a system would have potential capability use cases across all services/agencies. . However, the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering did not support continued investigation of this promising technology by the Missile Defense Agency. In addition to diode pumped alkali lasers, there are other directed energy applications that have the potential to contribute to ballistic and hypersonic missile defense architecture, including microwave and short pulse lasers technologies.
It is the sense of Congress that the Director of the Missile Defense Agency should continue to fund promising directed energy technologies for ballistic and hypersonic missile defense, in coordination with the directed energy roadmap of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, with the intent to transfer technologies to the military departments as appropriate. The Secretary of Defense shall delegate to the Director of the Missile Defense Agency the authority to budget for, direct, and manage directed energy programs applicable for ballistic and hypersonic missile defense missions, in coordination with other directed energy efforts of the Department of Defense.
In budgeting for and directing directed energy programs applicable for ballistic and hypersonic defensive missions pursuant to paragraph (1), the Director of the Missile Defense Agency shall— prioritize the early research and development of technologies; and address the transition of such technologies to industry to support future operationally relevant capabilities.