Pentagon Failed to Give Industry Needed Direction on Directed Energy Weapons - Report

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The Biden administration and the Department of Defense have failed to give US business and industry the clear direction and leadership it needs to develop Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) systems, the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) and the Emerging Technologies Institute (ETI) said in a new report on Tuesday.

As a result of the failed government policies, the Department of Defense (DOD) cannot produce such weapons for a long time to come, the report suggests.

"Without a clear and sustained demand signal from DoD, [the Department of Defense] and therefore a return on investment, industry is hesitant to make the investments necessary to have secure, healthy, and resilient DEW supply chains," the report said.

The Defense Department has often wavered in its commitment to fielding DEWs at scale, the report charged.

"(C)urrent DEW supply chains, including critical raw materials, the manufacturing base and workforce, and testing infrastructure, are incapable of supporting DEW deployment at scale. ... The current DEW supply chains are only able to produce small quantities of systems with long lead times," the report warned.

Addressing these vulnerabilities was going to be a formidable task and therefore a series of concrete steps by the US government, industry, and academia was necessary, the report recommended.