You got me considering an unshielded, focused/directed microwave beam. And then my dumbass realized I had reinvented the MASER (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation).
For large amounts of power: batteries suck, are very vulnerable and are quite heavy, large generators are extremely noisy and not very portable, and the power grid is vulnerable and under constant attack. None of these are particularly viable in heavy combat, therefore directed energy weapons are generally not viable except when you are not in heavy combat, which is exactly when you would really need them to work.
You got me considering an unshielded, focused/directed microwave beam. And then my dumbass realized I had reinvented the MASER (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation).
So, why aren’t defenders using those?
For large amounts of power: batteries suck, are very vulnerable and are quite heavy, large generators are extremely noisy and not very portable, and the power grid is vulnerable and under constant attack. None of these are particularly viable in heavy combat, therefore directed energy weapons are generally not viable except when you are not in heavy combat, which is exactly when you would really need them to work.