The United States needs to field laser weapons, including solid-state assets, now, not later, a new report states.

Proof of the urgent need for directed-energy defenses have been provided by Russian forces invading Georgia that fired BM-21 and SS-21 rockets, and by Hezbollah terrorists that shot thousands of rockets and missiles into Israel two years ago, according to a new paper published by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank.

"For the second time in recent years, the United States has witnessed another wake-up call for the importance of fielding directed-energy weapons capable of shooting down mortar and artillery fire, as well as intercepting short-range rockets and missiles," according to James Jay Carafano, Heritage senior research fellow.

"The Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Congress need to place more emphasis on fielding working prototypes of these systems as quickly as possible," Carafano urged.

These directed energy systems are required, without delay, not only for military reasons, but as well on humanitarian grounds in the face of conscienceless mortar and missile attacks on innocent civilians, he continued.

"Terrorism continues to be the scourge of the 21st century, but the age of conventional wars is far from over. In recent years we have had plenty examples where both means of warfare have employed conventional weapons to target civilians," he noted.

Weapons used by terrorists run a gamut "from mortars to short-range missiles … directly targeted against innocents or employed against military targets in urban areas, putting civilian populations at risk."

Civilian airliners also have been targeted for attack by the short-range surface-to-air missile, and in Iraq, "insurgent groups used mortars to fire on administrative buildings, as well as military facilities in Baghdad and other urban areas."

Use of these weapons has been seen both in peacetime and in war-torn areas, including lethal attacks on Israeli civilians.

"Even more troubling, however, is the use of these conventional weapons in combat zones aimed at the heart of civilian populations," Carafano argued. "In the 2006 battles between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hezbollah’s Katyusha rocket attacks killed and wounded dozens of Israelis, destroyed property, and sent thousands to bomb shelters. The rain of rockets threatened to spark a larger regional conflict."

And then there is the Russian threat.

Moscow sent forces into Georgia that employed "rockets in urban areas" including "BM-21 rockets, a system similar to the Katyusha, at separatist military headquarters. Although the rockets appear to have been aimed at legitimate targets, the risk of damage to the surrounding civilian community from these inaccurate weapons may have been high.

"According to other press and eyewitness reports, during the massive Russian military offensive, ground troops fired dozens of SS-21s, a short-range ballistic missile that can carry a high-explosive warhead. It is not clear whether these weapons were fired at legitimate military targets. In addition, the large SS 21 high-explosive warhead can carry either fragmentation bombs or mines making the risk of civilian causalities in urban areas very high."

So the United States must forthwith, rapidly, develop directed energy weapons to use against such weapons, Carafano argued. There is no time to waste.

But the most powerful military organization on the face of the Earth has been slow to apprehend the danger, and slower still to counter it.

"Despite repeated warning signs that both unconventional and conventional combatants have no problem using the weapons of war to target both military and civilian populations, the United States has shown little sense of urgency in developing effective countermeasures for either equipping military forces or safeguarding civilian populations," Carafano noted in puzzled exasperation.

This is not to say that there hasn’t been at least some work in this area.

"Directed energy weapons, such as the Tactical High-Energy Laser (THEL), demonstrate tremendous potential against all kinds of mortar, artillery, rocket, aircraft, and missile threats," he recalled.

"Directed energy can be used against short-range threats like the Katyusha rockets being fired at Israel and against ballistic missiles like the SS-21s fired at Georgia. Such systems could also be used for homeland security, such as protecting critical infrastructure, national security events (such as the presidential nominating conventions) and commercial air traffic from terrorist attack."

But the Army canceled the THEL program because it wasn’t sufficiently mobile and robust.

And the Department of Homeland Security, while conducting some demonstration programs to assess the feasibility of defenses against terrorists using man-portable anti-aircraft systems to bring down airliners, hasn’t come up with an operational system.

BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman Corp. [NOC] and Raytheon Co. [RTN] have developed anti-MANPADs systems to protect airliners.

Now, Carafano noted, the Pentagon is examining a new generation of lasers using solid-state technology rather than chemical lasers.

"These lasers employ a solid-state technology, incorporating multiple industrial thin disk lasers into a single high-powered energy [device]," he noted. "The military is currently developing prototypes for a mobile version of this system."

Someone should light a fire under this program, he said.

"Congress should insist and the administration should press to field operational prototypes of these systems as quickly as possible for both defense and homeland security applications," Carafano urged.

"Both land-based and air-based platforms (mounted on manned and unmanned aircraft) should be fielded as soon as possible. Putting a system in the field now would provide some limited operational capability and invaluable operational experience on how to use these systems."

Carafano’s paper titled "Russia-Georgia War Highlights Need for Directed-Energy Defenses" can be read in entirety at http://www.heritage.org on the Web.