6. Glossary

anti-structure laser weapon; arme laser anti-structures

Laser system including a very high-power, multi-kilowatt continuous laser used to destroy or severely damage distant targets by heating their external structure.

champ lointain; far-field

Intensity profile of a laser (or several lasers in the case of a combination) at a sufficiently large distance from the output of the emission source for its spatial light intensity profile to have evolved until stabilized under the effect of diffraction.

champ proche; near-field

Intensity profile of a laser (or several lasers in the case of a combination) just at the output of the emission source, before the laser beam has been able to propagate a sufficient distance to see its spatial light intensity profile evolve under the...