Part 3 of 3 Parts (Please read Parts 1 and 2 first)
In 2014, Thomas Mehlhorn is the superintendent of the Naval Research Laboratory’s Plasma Physics Division. He published a paper in IEEE Transactions on Plasma Sciences in 2014. In the article, he said, “Building upon the concept of scalability, rather than using a laser beam to kill a UAV, they began to pursue the idea of beaming power to a UAV to allow continuous flight, with potential application to both surveillance [Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR)] and countermeasure missions. The team has pursued this idea using NRL applied research funds with the vision that long-range laser power beaming to UAVs could allow for long-duration flights with reduced manpower requirements for many Navy and DoD missions, including off-board decoys, persistent surveillance, and communication relays.”
According to an October 2019 press release from Navy.mil, the Navy’s beamed power systems has received endorsement from the Marines, Army and Air Force. It is expected to be endorsed by the whole Department of Defense in the near future. It is unclear just how much the new beamed power system has been tested or deployed. The DoE has been exploring the idea of beamed microwave power from space at least since 2014.
Beaming power from the ground to UAVs when the aircraft are in line of sight from the beaming station is a much easier than beaming power from space. A ground-based system could work across dozens or even hundreds of miles depending on the altitudes involved. It would be surprising if ground-based beaming technology is not already under development or many even in some sort of clandestine operational state.
It is possible that power could be beamed from an aircraft to power a UAV. This has been discussed in research literature. This would help solve line of sight issues that plague ground-based beaming systems. However, there would be problems with endurance and simplicity aircraft power beaming. In the 2011 RAND study that was mentioned above, the authors mention the possibility for beam power applications including “ultra-high-altitude observation stations or communication relays and flocks of high-altitude sensor probes powered remotely from a large aircraft 'mother ship.'”
The Chinese Academy of Space Technology claimed to already be testing a beamed power system in 2019. They also said that a fully operational Chinese microwave beaming power station in space could be deployed by 2050.
It is obvious that this technology has huge implications not only for the future of UAVs, but, indeed, for all humanity. Such systems could keep UAVs in the air for very long periods of time which could replace cell towers or communication satellites in the event of a crisis in a region or even for normal operations of increasing complex communication networks. Compared to tethered aerostats, UAVs would need far less infrastructure, they could be moved around as needed for optimum coverage, and they could land quickly for servicing. They could be deployed dozens or even hundreds of miles away from their base stations. If a space-based power beaming system existed, the UAVs could travel anywhere on Earth. Obviously, there are troubling implications for overhead surveillance that are quite profound.
The new mission for the X-37B is interesting from an intellectual and scientific view, its significance extends far beyond that. The microwave power beaming system it is testing could be a real game-changer for many military-related applications. It could open the door for nearly continuous unmanned flight across the whole world.