1. INTRODUCTION

This technology area includes efforts devoted to armament and electronic warfare technologies for all new and upgraded non-nuclear weapons. The Weapons panel consists of three subpanels -- Conventional Weapons, Directed Energy Weapons, and Electronic Warfare. The weapons technology structure is illustrated at Figure X.1. The efforts in these subpanels are directed toward providing demonstrated technology that better enables the warfighter to incapacitate or destroy enemy personnel, materiel, and infrastructure, and provide defense against and/or countermeasures to his ability to wage war.

Conventional Weapons (CW) focuses on munitions, their components and launching systems, guns, tactical propulsion, bombs, rockets, guided missiles, projectiles, special warfare weapons, mortars, mines, countermine systems, torpedoes, explosive ordnance disposal, and underwater weapons and their associated combat control. The panel has seven subareas: Fuze/Safe & Arm; Guidance & Control; Guns; Lethality and Vulnerability; Mines & Countermines; Tactical Propulsion; and Warhead and Explosives.

Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) technologies are those that relate to the production and projection of a beam of intense electromagnetic energy or atomic/subatomic particles that are used as a weapon. Directed Energy weapons and devices generate energy that travels at or near the speed of light from a beam source directly to the target. Directed Energy includes the laser DEW and high power microwave DEW subareas. The only Particle Beam effort is supported by previous year funding and will not be discussed further.

Electronic Warfare (EW) is responsible for developing technology which provides U.S. military forces with the capability to maximize their unchallenged, operational use of the electromagnetic spectrum, while denying the same from the enemy by using electromagnetic means to detect and attack enemy sensor and command infrastructure systems. The underlying technologies within EW can be divided into three principal subareas: Threat Warning; Self-Protection; and Mission Support.

Editor's Note: The weapons area was previously addressed in the Conventional Weapons Technology Area Plan and the Technology Area Plan for Electronic Warfare/Directed Energy Weapons.

See Resource Appendix for funding of this Defense Technology Area.

The overarching strategic goal for weapons technology investment is to develop and transition superior weapons technology that will provide the Services with affordable and decisive military capabilities to execute future missions. The specific goals in conventional weapons mainly focus on technology for systems to destroy enemy personnel, materiel, and infrastructure, but with a growing emphasis on incapacitation through non-lethal technologies. The specific goal of the EW and DEW technology efforts is to control and exploit the electromagnetic spectrum for maximum effectiveness of U.S. military operations.

Weapons technology provides the decisive military capabilities for the future. It responds to the Services' operational needs for cost-effective system upgrades and next generation systems in support of the top Joint Staff Future Warfighting Capabilities (JSFWC). The Weapons Panel technology activities directly support the Joint Warfighting Operational Needs/Capability areas of Precision Force-Strike Warfare, Joint Theater Missile Defense, Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT), Joint Countermine, Electronic Warfare, Information Warfare, and Counterproliferation, and contribute support to the areas of Dominant Battlespace Knowledge, and Combat Identification.

Specific objectives of weapons technology programs address: (1) the need for affordable all-weather, day-night precision strike against projected mobile and fixed targets; (2) gun/missile systems to support the development of advanced, lighter weight air/land combat vehicles and tanks, ship and vehicle self-defense systems, and lightweight high-performance gun systems for artillery applications and naval surface fire support missions; (3) the capability to detect, identify, and jam RF weapon system sensors and advanced imaging/pseudo-imaging infrared (IR) missile seekers; (4) projecting lethal force precisely against an enemy with minimal friendly casualties and collateral damage and development of high velocity, highly accurate conventional ballistic missile and smart fuze penetrator warhead; (5) development of technologies for advanced radar warning receivers, ESM, and ECM systems that can respond to a changing RF environment; (6) effective mine detection and neutralization capability to permit movement of forces ashore during amphibious assaults and during movement on land; (7) all-weather defense against very low observable cruise missiles, aircraft, and ballistic missiles; (8) disruption or destruction of missiles and projectiles in various phases of flight; (9) disruption or destruction of adversary communications and information systems; (10) control of space; (11) suppression of enemy air defenses; (12) undersea superiority through highly lethal underwater attack and defense capabilities against ASW/ASUW platforms at long range, in shallow water with weapons, counterweapons, and countermeasures with increased speed and reduced weight and acoustic signature; (13) real-time integration of "own-platform" sensor information with off-platform theater/battlespace information to yield situation assessment (SA), threat geolocation, and decision aides to combat identification, targeting, and damage assessment objectives; (14) the denial, degradation, and deception of enemy command, control, and navigation functions; and (15) the use of non-lethal technologies for a variety of missions. Technologies have transition potential to a wide variety of weapons systems and platforms and Figure X.2. illustrates some of the weapons technology transition opportunities. A List of Acronyms can be found at the end of this chapter.