Dr. David C. Stoudt of Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc.

This talk will introduce a general engineering audience to Directed Energy (DE) weapon technologies and their application in modern warfare.

The Directed Energy (DE) community finds itself at a point of convergence between the state of the art of various forms of DE-weapon technology, and a growing number of emerging and asymmetric threats that those DE weapons can reasonably address in a more cost-effective manner than existing, and thus far conceived, conventional kinetic weapons. Guided rockets, artillery, mortars, and the proliferation of unmanned systems for both intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and strike, are a few of the many evolving threats that may be addressable by currently available DE capabilities, both high-energy lasers (HEL) and high-power microwave/radiofrequency (HPM/HPRF) systems. This immergence of addressable threats, the low cost per engagement, and a deep electrical magazine, allows for DE capabilities to reduce engagement costs and enhance force protection.

We are now operating under a new paradigm for DE weapons, where the warfighters and acquisition community need answers on how, and not if or when, DE weapons are to be used. So, this now begs the questions of: How do we operationalize DE weapons? How might such weapons be used? and What are their implications for modern warfare?

Biography:

Dr. David Stoudt is a Booz Allen Hamilton Senior Executive Advisor and Engineering Fellow for Directed Energy based in Dahlgren, Virginia. He provides scientific and business strategy and leadership to help advance the lethality, operational suitability, and acceptance of directed energy and other capabilities for the warfighter.

Prior to joining Booz Allen Hamilton, he served in the Department of the Navy (DON) for 32 years, the last 12 of which he held an executive position as the Navy’s first Distinguished Engineer for Directed Energy [ST position]. He has a proven track record of providing sound results-driven technical strategic leadership that led to the establishment of world-class directed-energy programs, personnel, and facilities at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren, Virginia (NSWCDD). From 2008 through 2012, he was also the first NAVSEA Technical Authority Warrant for Directed Energy and Electric Weapon Systems, such as high-energy laser (HEL) weapon systems, the Electromagnetic Rail Gun Weapon System, high-power microwave (HPM) weapon systems, and the electromagnetic launch of weapons.

While at Dahlgren, he established and technically directed several high-power microwave and high-energy laser technology development programs, including airborne electronic attack, counter-Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), directed energy and nuclear EMP lethality efforts, and the initiation of the Navy’s Laser Weapon System (LaWS) that was deployed on the USS Ponce for three years. He developed and deployed with several HPM counter-IED systems to support Operation Iraqi Freedom, which represented the first ever successful tactical employment of DE weapons.

From 2011 to 2015, he was the Senior Director, Capabilities and Concepts in the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy for Policy and was chartered to assess naval programs, technology development and warfighting concepts, and analyze their implications for future naval capabilities. As the Senior Director, he initiated and served as the Executive Secretary for the Naval Directed Energy Steering Group, which was chartered by the Under Secretary of the Navy to develop the Vision, Strategy, and Roadmap for Naval directed-energy weapons. He also initiated the establishment of, and served as the Executive Secretary, for both the Navy Non-Acoustic Anti-Submarine Warfare Steering Group and the Naval Space Board, chartered by the Under Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Navy, respectively.

Among other honors, he was awarded the Navy Distinguished, Superior, and multiple Meritorious Civilian Service Awards, as well as the Naval Sea Systems Command Scientist of the Year Award. He received a B.S. (Summa Cum Laude), M.S., and Doctor of Philosophy, all in Electrical Engineering, from Old Dominion University. He is well published, was awarded several patents, and is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the International Union of Radio Science (URSI), and the Association of Old Crows (AOC). He was inducted as a Fellow of the Directed Energy Professional Society in November 2005. In 2018, Dr. Stoudt was elected to the Board of Directors, and is serving in his sixth year as the President of the Directed Energy Professional Society. In 2022, he became a member of the Board of Advisors of the Reginald Victor Jones (RVJ) Institute, whose mission is to advance the art and science of electromagnetic spectrum operations (EMSO). In 2023, he was asked to serve on the Advisory Board of the Directed Energy Center at the University of New Mexico.

Email: