The Pentagon wants to explore the utility of a neutral particle-beam weapon in orbit as a missile defense weapon, according to its 2020 budget proposal.
It sounds more like a fixture in a science fiction film than something you'd find on the Pentagon's budgetary requests, but the proposal for Fiscal Year 2020's budget includes a $304 million request for funding for a program to develop directed energy weapons that can be deployed in space as a next-generation missile defense system.
Particle beams are effectively the “heat rays” or even “death rays” of science fiction. Unlike lasers, which burn the surface of a target, particle beams penetrate beyond the surface to affect its interior.
This makes particle beams immune to measures that can deflect lasers, like brightly polished, mirror-like surfaces.
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