Nikola Tesla Books
28 The situation, however, is not as one-sided as this report may indicate. The Governments of the western powers are fully aware of the Soviet operations and the interpretation that can be put upon them. In the United States the Defense Department has been trying to develop a death ray for more than a decade (as was reported in our report on nuclear fusion, February 1975). The main work occurs at the Defense Department's laser weapons development group at Kirkland Air Force Base in Alburquerque, in New Mexico, and is known by the code name Eighth Card, operated under the aegis of the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency. For a long time they struggled with lasers and more latterly with beams of charged particles, making very slow progress, following a "brute forca". approach. In the last 18 months considerable advances have been made and significant results achieved. Since the disclosure that the Soviet scientists are developing electron beam weapons for use in outer space for the purpose of destroying enemy satellites and incoming missiles, the Pentagon has admitted that they have ongoing programs for the development of electron beam weapons. A wide range of laser based weapons are under development for a wide variety of uses by all three departments of the military. They range from infantry guns to blind enemy personnel, through laser guided bombs and missiles to heavy duty naval weapons, anti-missile defense systems and satellite killer weapons for use in outer space. The technology of using charged particles, either beams or curtains, -is nowhere near as advanced. The general consensus of opinion at the present time is that the Soviets have a tremendous lead in the development of actual lasers and charged particle high energy technology. Their hardware devices have much higher performance and greater power densities than their United States equivalents. In the course of developing the material for this report, the analyst responsible examined copies of the official reports of the Department of Transport which monitor Soviet activities discussed in this report.
