By Andrew Koch, JDW Bureau Chief, Washington DC, and Nick Cook, JDW Aerospace Consultant, London In its FY 2004 Defence Planning Guidance, the US Department of Defense calls on the US Air Force (USAF) to plan for directed-energy (DE) weapons within a decade. Industry officials say the technology exists to support those plans. Mike Booen, vice president for directed-energy programmes at Raytheon, said that high-powered microwave (HPM) and laser weapons are "on the verge of moving from the science and technology phase into the tactical platform phase". Some of these concepts are already under development, according to industry and air...