DARPA has tapped Raytheon to design and develop a wireless, airborne relay system to "deliver energy into contested environments," as part of its Energy Web Dominance program, in which DARPA wants to be able to power anything from nearly anywhere.

I wonder if the system can double as an orbital weapons platform with global strike capability. They are talking about eventually scaling to megawatts of laser energy being fired into orbit then relayed back down to a target on the ground.

It's kinda weird seeing US military commanders pushing for tech to eliminate their reliance on fossil fuels. They are careful to avoid mentioning that this system is to replace the need for diesel generators at forward operating bases or jet fuel for drones. I guess that's because US political leadership has a different opinion on being dependent on fossil fuel.

  • Dickey_Butts [none/use name]
    ·
    10 months ago

    I'm not one of those "I fucking love science" nerds but didn't Nicola Tesla promise to build this back in the day?

    Also it is very funny to see military boot heads come around to progressive positions simply because the alternative makes killing people more difficult.

    • LesbianLiberty [she/her]
      ·
      10 months ago

      This is different, Tesla wanted to transmit power wirelessly omnidirectionally, whereas my understanding of this is essentially an orbital platform which sends a concentrated energy beam to a platform on earth's surface