C.2 Particle Beam Weapons (PBW) and SPS C. 2.1 General Character of Spaceborne PBW Systems Exoatmospheric particle-beam weapon (PBW) systems may eventually prove to be useful in a number of roles, including ballistic missile defense and anti- satellite offense. The SPS/PBW combination is an interesting one to consider because the extremely large power requirements of PBW systems (typically hundreds of megawatts) are readily satisfied by the power satellites and the cargo orbital transfer vehicles (COTV) of the Reference Design. A PBW directly attached to the SPS would presumably add only marginal additional weight associated with prime power to the total system. A PBW linked at a distance from a power satellite (e.g., in a much lower orbit with laser power transmission) might still benefit in terms of overall weight if the power collection scheme were sufficiently efficient. A PBW system might also be of value directly to the SPS, as a defense system. General considerations involved in these various possible applications include the beam's lethality characteristics, the technology of generating and firing the beam, and the possibilities for countermeasures. Although one may in principle consider a number of possible beam types for PBW applications, neutral beams of atomic hydrogen isotopes or, conceivably, heavier atoms are by far the most likely candidates for spaceborne applications. The beam would be generated by "conventional" acceleration of charged ions that are neutralized after leaving the accelerator. Other neutral particles, such as neutrons and gamma rays, are not useful, except at quite short ranges, because of the physically inherent divergence of beams produced by any presently foreseeable source. Charged or only partially neutralized beams of electrons or ions are not expected to propagate in near-vacuum (at interesting intensities) to any significant distance from their source, and would probably be subject to moderate-to-severe dispersion by their internal electric fields even if a propagation "window" were found to exist. The geomagnetic field—especially if fluctuations and distortions accompanying a high-altitude nuclear detonation are present—would interact with a charged beam to produce a "bent" beam trajectory that could seriously aggravate an already difficult beam aiming problem. For all these reasons, conceptual exoatmospheric PBW systems are speculative or even completely undefined for many schemes that might be suggested. We will concentrate on neutralized-ion beams as the single
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