India develops futuristic anti-missile directed energy weapons

India is developing a series of directed energy weapons (DEW) to improve the anti-ballistic missile capability, local media reported on Tuesday.
A laser weapon of the DEW family are being developed, which could fire a beam with a potency of 25 kilowatt. This type of laser weapon would intercept a ballistic missile in its terminal phase within the range of seven kilometers, Indian newspaper the Indian Times quoted Anil Kumar Maini, the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO)'s Laser Science and Technology Center director, as saying.
The ballistic missile would explode as its shell temperature is heated to 200-300 degrees Celsius by the laser beam, the Director explained.
The DEW is a sophisticated weapon that could destroy a target by emitting and transferring the energy to a target in an aimed direction. Some types are in development in some countries. Among the DEW, laser weapons usually generate high-energy pulses against targets.
According to the weapon development roadmap by the Indian Ministry of Defense, the DEW would be one of the top priorities for the Indian advanced weapons development over the next fifteen years, said the report.
A gas dynamic laser-based DEW is also being developed by The Center. It could be flexibly deployed by a moving vehicle, Maini said.
In the future, the Indian laser weapons could be carried by three services' platforms, such as the Air Force's transport planes, fighters and the Navy's destroyers and submarines, according the report.
If their developments are smooth, the Indian new laser weapons test would be conducted within several years by DRDO.
On February 12, 2010, a U.S. high-powered airborne laser weapon shot down a mocked ballistic missile, and became the first successful test for a airborne DEW to destroy a ballistic missile.
India has carried out two anti-ballistic missile interception tests by launching the anti-aircraft missiles since the beginning of this year. Among them, the July's test succeeded while March's test failed due to the anti-aircraft missile's radar failing to track the mocked target.