23 - 26 June, 2025 |
Hilton Syon Park, London, United Kingdom
Directed Energy Focus Day | 23 June 2025
8:00 - 9:00
REGISTRATION AND REFRESHMENTS
9:00 - 9:10
CHAIRMAN'S OPENING REMARKS
Colonel (Ret.) Paul Daniels -
Senior Defense Consultant and President, P. Daniels Consulting,
FSAD 2025 Co-Chairman
Colonel (Ret.) Paul Daniels
Senior Defense Consultant and President, P. Daniels ConsultingFSAD 2025 Co-Chairman
TRANSITION FROM PROTOTYPE TO PRODUCT: NEXT STEPS FOR PUSHING DE WEAPONS INTO THE FIELD
10:10 - 10:40
STATUS OF THE DEVELOPMENT, IMPLEMENTATION, AND INTEGRATION OF DIRECTED ENERGY APPLICATIONS
· Update on prototyping and testing of US Army DEW for operational capability
· Modernising lethality to counter evolving UAS threats
· New technologies and innovation needed to increase DEW performance
10:50 - 11:30
MORNING COFFEE AND NETWORKING BREAK
ACCELERATING THE INTEGRATION OF DIRECTED ENERGY INTO THE WIDER SYSTEM
11:30 - 12:00
AIR COMBAT COMMAND PERSPECTIVE ON DIRECTED ENERGY INTEGRATION INTO US CAPABILITIES
· Integration challenges for existing systems and infrastructure
· ACC considerations of SWaP requirements for DE systems
· Air Combat Command perspective on the Counter-UAS mission, and the importance of collaboration with other branches to refine DE technologies for the C-UAS mission
12:00 - 12:30
ENHANCING THE INTEGRATION OF DE WEAPONS ACROSS DOMAINS
· Understand what performance DE systems provide based on advances in science and technology
· Explore how widely and at what levels Directed Energy capabilities are proliferated across nation states and other entities
· Hear insights on the military utility of DE enabled capabilities in the execution of the kill chain, across domains and across the phases of conflict
12:30 - 14:00
LUNCH AND NETWORKING BREAK
COUNTERING EMERGING THREATS WITH DIRECTED ENERGY
14:00 - 14:50
PANEL DISCUSSION: ENHANCING DE CAPABILITIES TO COUNTER EVOLVING THREATS, INCLUDING UAS, SMALL UAS AND DRONE SWARMS
· How do militaries and industry view the proposed applications of High Energy Laser in modern warfare?
· How does the counter-UAS mission impact developments in DEW?
· How can DE weapons be operated in a more volatile, urban environment?
· What technological advancements are needed to increase capabilities in the future operating environment?
· How can industry support the integration of Directed Energy Weapons into the wider air defence system?
14:50 - 15:20
UK DEVELOPMENTS IN DIRECTED ENERGY LASER WEAPONS TO ENHANCE CAPABILITIES
· UK DEW capabilities for Counter-UAS, focusing on tracking, targeting, and mitigating threats from enemy drones
· Challenges of developing DEW from a testing, SWaP and robustness point of view
· Cost considerations for directed energy development and integration, including perspectives on DragonFire, Wolfhoud and Ealing
15:20 - 15:50
HIGH ENERGY LASER WEAPONS TO ENHANCE C-UAS CAPABILITIES
· Exploring HEL capabilities for C-UAS operations
· Key insights into directed energy deployment for M-SHORAD operations
· Transition from Army RCCTO to PEO Missiles & Space
15:50 - 16:20
AFTERNOON TEA AND NETWORKING BREAK
DEVELOPING DE TECHNOLOGIES TO SUPPORT MISSION SUCCESS
16:20 - 16:50
OPTIMISING DIRECTED ENERGY PERFORMANCE TO ADDRESS EMERGING THREATS
· Efforts to improve DEW to address capability gaps in C-UAS, Counter Cruise Missiles, and Counter Drone Swarm missions
· Lessons identified from testing and analysis to improve design and development
· Required industry support to maximise DEW potential
16:50 - 17:20
EVALUATING THE WIDER IMPACT OF HIGH-ENERGY LASER TECHNOLOGY
· Impact of high-energy laser deployment on existing defence infrastructure
· Restrictions of using HEL in the battlefield, and across different environments
· Considerations of the optronic countermeasures for high-energy lasers
