Discussion Board Of these 3 missions, which do you think is most important, and why?

Looking at three missions of homeland security; borders, transportation, and critical infrastructure, the most important one is mission-related to borders. It is imperative for every country to safeguard its national borders so that it can keep its sovereignty and pride intact. It is the most important mission because securing your borders is critical in so many ways. A sovereign nation can never be built with weak border security, and they have to keep tight security measures to safeguard borders. It is important to do so because they have to stop illegal trade, smuggling as well as human trafficking. The illegal trade or migrants can create so many troubles for American society (DHS, 2019)

Of these 3 missions, which do you think is most difficult to accomplish, and why?

       In my opinion, the mission-related to critical infrastructure is the most difficult one to accomplish. The cyberspace is increasing with the passage of time, and its volume is so huge and the whole world is connected with the internet, so anyone can attack anywhere in the world. So, it is a constant threat all the time, which DHS has to deal with on a regular basis (DHS, 2019)

Of these 3 missions, which do you think DHS does best, and why?

   In my viewpoint, the mission related to borders is very well handled by the DHS. They are taking good enough measures to secure borders, and it is true that a lot has to be done yet; still, their efforts in this regard are commendable. 

Part 2

Describe the technology

            The directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a kind of weapon, which uses different sources of energy such as particle beams, microwaves as well as laser. DEW uses these energy sources to hit its target with full accuracy and efficacy. It is important to know that DEW is still in its experimental phase, and research is going on to get its proper practical use with great results to combat terrorism (Office of Naval Research, 2019)

What problem does it solve?

            The directed-energy weapon (DEW) can be beneficial in so many ways like solving so many problems while dealing with the terrorism. The terrorist may hide in different places, and it may get difficult to target them from the distance, but DEW can do that with accuracy, as drone technology is used along to spot the target, and then DEW can be fired at the target and it can hit the target with 100% accuracy.

How does it solve the problem?

            The directed-energy weapons can be great to deal with the problem of terrorism, as it has efficient technology to give the best results. DEW can be more beneficial as compared to conventional weapons like a laser-based weapon can travel at the light’s velocity, which means that a prompt and quickest action can be taken against any terrorist activity. These weapons can precisely target their actual point, which is directed to them, and energy output can be increased or decreased (FREUDENRICH, 2019)

What are potential side effects?

            It has been observed that DEW can come up with various adverse effects; as some of them may not be considered, but some of them can be deadly for humans. The technical characteristics are shown by DEW raise various concerns for the physical as well as psychological welfare of the humans. The civilian infrastructure can be largely damaged by DEW (Wheeler, 2017)