Neutral Particle Beam Research and Development at Los Alamos; DEW-89-01

Los Alamos: Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1989. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Wraps. [4], 16 pages, plus covers. Glossary. Illustrations. A particle-beam weapon uses a high-energy beam of atomic or subatomic particles to damage the target by disrupting its atomic and/or molecular structure. A particle-beam weapon is a type of directed-energy weapon, which directs energy in a particular and focused direction using particles with minuscule mass. Some particle-beam weapons have potential practical applications, e.g. as an antiballistic missile defense system for the United States and its canceled Strategic Defense Initiative. The concept of particle-beam weapons comes from sound scientific principles and experiments currently underway around the world. One effective process to cause damage to or destroy a target is to simply overheat it until it is no longer operational. However, after decades of R&D, particle-beam weapons are still very much at the research stage and it remains to be seen if or when they will be deployed as practical, high-performance military weapons. At the time of this publication, the Los Alamos National Laboratory had been conducting research on ballistic missile defense and nuclear weapons and their effects for decades. One of the most promising concepts under investigation in the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) is the use of neutral particle beams in space as a defensive weapon. This brochure presents an overview of the Neutral Particle Beam (NPB) program at Los Alamos and describes how this work relates to efforts at other research institutions and by industrial contractors. This combination of research activities under the national direction of the SDI Organization forms a fundamentally new approach to the problem of ballistic missile defense in the strategic environments. The laboratory was heavily involved in the Beam Experiment Aboard Rocket (BEAR) project. Another major project was the Army Background Experiment (ABE). Condition: Very good.

Keywords: SDI, Strategic Defense, Neutral Particle Beam Accelerator Test Stand, Ion Source, Radio-frequency Quadrupole Accelerator, Drift Tube Linear Accelerator, Magnetic Optics, Neutralizer Development, Beam-Direction Sensing, Beam Experiment Aboard Rocket

[Book #77495]

Price: $45.00

See all items in Strategic Defense