The National Research Council was asked by the . Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR) to assess the current capabilities of free-electron lasers (FELs) to deliver large amounts of energy; assess the prospects for developing such devices with megawatt average power capabilities; identify the key technical problems that must be solved to achieve such performance; and evaluate the feasibility of achieving power, energy, and other technical parameters specified by the Office of Naval Research. The request did not include a charge to make a determination of the requirements for effective directed-energy weapons
