The Leading International Forum For The DES Community
Over the past 13 years, the Directed Energy Systems forum has become the most internationally focused and innovative DES forum worldwide. This year, the theme is "Exploiting the Military Utility of Directed Energy" - focus will be on the future militarily use of DE and the next steps required for these systems to earn their way onto platforms and into operations.
We are undoubtedly at a time where Directed Energy Systems are moving on to platforms across the tri-service. Technological progress is helping to meet SWaP-C challenges and the spectrum of threats-faced now includes UAVs and smaller targets which require, and provide operational rationale, for lower powered systems. At the same time missile defence requires the future operationalisation of high-powered systems - especially as hypersonic technology increases the threat and reduced the efficacy of traditional systems.
The race is on to field systems now, get this technology into the hands of the warfighter, gain feedback on how the systems can be used and take an iterative approach to refine and design future systems. Now is the time to learn the military utility of directed energy and the next steps needed to make this technology a battlefield reality.
We look forward to exposing capability planners, future operators and researchers to case-studies and developments from other nations, and helping militaries share TTPS and Operational Concepts for this new capability. No more promises, DE is moving into operations!
DON'T MISS: Our Post-Conference Workshop Day will feature sessions from the Police Academy of the Netherlands and BAE Systems, focusing on the utility of non-lethal force and the integration of DES into air, land, and sea platforms respectively. The majority of discussion will share end-user and industry insight into this increasingly relevant capability.
Key themes this year will include:
- Exploiting the Military Utility of Directed Energy: earning a place onto platforms and into operations. What role do armed services see for directed energy, what technologies need to be refined, and what is the roadmap for adoption?
- Defining and sharing concepts of operations and TTPs behind the use of Directed Energy Systems. What are the SWaP-C considerations and how can the value proposition of these systems be communicated to strategic leaders?
- Understanding the threats faced and which problem sets most readily can be addressed by DES and which problem sets require more R&D in order to develop effective DES solutions?
- Learning from case-studies to address training challenges for High-Powered lasers and understanding safety and deconfliction considerations to deploy laser systems on the battlefield
- How Microwaves continue to have application as non-lethal weapon systems, but also as effective UAS-killers - how and why they may become the energy system of choice versus the laser
Join us in London at the end of October to take part in this well-known international event. You will have the opportunity to gain both strategic and technical insight from military leaders, research scientists and industry experts, including roadmaps, goals, and the art of the possible. This will allow you to define future operational concepts, understand militarily useful applications of the latest technologies and help deliver the latest technology to the warfighter.
"Excellent Summit as it brings together experts from around the world. The planning and management of your events & conferences is always top-notch and excellent."
Principal Research Scientist, Georgia Institute of Technology
"Being new to DEW it was quite valuable"
Senior engineer, Saab Dynamics AB
"I got a good picture of where the laser weapon field is at the moment"
System Engineer, FMV
2019 speakers
Conference chairman
- Vice Admiral (Ret'd) Duncan Potts, Former DG Joint Force Development & Defence Academy, UK MoD, DES 2019 Conference Chairman
Speakers
- Kelly Hammett, Ph.D, Director, Directed Energy Directorate, US Air Force
- Lt. Gen. Henry A. "Trey" Obering III, Executive Vice President, Directed Energy, Booz Allen Hamilton
- Youngchul Kim, Ph.D., Researcher, Laser Weapon Systems, South Korea Agency for Defense Development
- Michael Jirjis, Ph.D., Directed Energy Experimentation Lead, AF Strategic Development Planning & Experimentation, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL)
- Matthew Speakman, Assistant Head for Novel Weapons, Weapons Evaluation and Capability Assurance, Finance & Military Capability Group, UK MoD
- Colonel Gary Beard, TRADOC Capability Manager (TCM), Air Defense Artillery, US Army
- Colonel Sean Wilson, Officer in Charge, Cyber Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA), US Army Europe
- Rear Admiral (Ret'd) Massimo Annati, Chairman, European Working Group Non-Lethal Weapons
- Fumio Wani, Ph.D., HEL Program Manager, Kawasaki Heavy Industries
- Keith A. Rigby CEng FIET, Platform Integration Consultant - LDEW, BAE Systems
- Colonel Craig Nieman, Chief, Advanced Weapons Systems Division, Air Combat Command
- Ivan Jones, Novel Weapons Programme, UK MoD
- Andrew Tate MSc CEng FIMarEST, Senior Principal Marine Systems Engineer, DSTL
- Mark Gunzinger, Senior Fellow, US Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
- Sjef Orbons, Ph.D., Consultant, Netherlands Military Police
- Mike Pereria, Business Development, High Energy Lasers, Raytheon
- Prof. Lars Nilsson, Head of High Power Fibre Lasers, Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton
- Sanjit Matharu, Modelling, Simulation and Analysis Lead, BAE Systems
- Rudiger Schmitt, Senior Scientist, French-German Research Institute of Saint Louis (ISL)
- Ofer Fridman, Ph.D., Lecturer in War Studies and Director of Operations, King's Centre for Strategic Communications
- Michael Cathcart, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist, Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta
- Jeffery Troester, Directed Energy Systems Integration Lead, Honeywell Aerospace
