Introduction

A low intensity conflict is the most common form of warfare today and is likely to be so in foreseeable future. Data suggests thatmore than 75%of the armed conflicts sinceWorldWar II have been of low intensity variety. Low intensity conflict operation is a military term used to refer to the deployment and use of troops and/or assets in situations other than conventional war. As compared to a conventional war; in the case of low intensity conflict operations, armed forces engaged in the conflict operate at a greatly reduced tempo, perhaps with fewer soldiers, reduced range of tactical equipment and limited scope to operate in a military manner. Moreover, use of artillery is avoided in the case of conflicts in urban territories and use of air power is often restricted to surveillance and transportation of personnel and equipment. Low intensity conflicts pose an alarming threat to national security and is an area of concern for the whole of the international community today. Its scope extends from emergency preparedness and response to domestic intelligence activities to riot and mob control, from combating illegal drug trafficking to protection of critical infrastructure, fromhandling counter-insurgency and anti-terrorist operations to detection of nuclear and biological agents, from detection and identification of chemical, biological warfare and explosive agents to detection of concealed weapons. Laser and opto-electronics technologies play an important role in handling low intensity conflict situations. The key advantages of the use of laser technology in such applications are near zero collateral damage, speed of light delivery and potential for building non-lethal weapons. Some of the well established laser devices in low intensity conflict (LIC) applications include laser dazzlers for close combat operations, mob/riot control and protection of critical infrastructures from aerial threats; lidar sensors for detection of chemical, biological and explosive agents; Femto second lasers for imaging of concealed weapons; lasers for sniper and gun fire location identification and so on. Use of laser vibrometry and electron speckle interferometry techniques for detection of buriedmines and high power lasers for disposal of unexploded ordnances are emerging applications of laser technology for homeland security. This chapter briefly describes both established and emerging applications of laser and opto-electronics technologies in homeland security in terms of salient features, potential usage and international developments.