The genesis of 'Directed Energy Weapon' (DEWs) came up during cold war when Karl Bendetson and the High Frontier panel of private citizens advised President Ronald Reagan for a crash program to develop missile defenses. It was not just to defend against Soviet nuclear weapons but also because of strong indications that the Soviets were going to deploy 'powerful directed energy weapons' in space to gain control of space by using weapons like lasers, jammers etc. Towards the end of Cold War, the US focused on ballistic missile defence and spending on DEWs.

The Strategic Forces Command of India, which forms part of country’s Nuclear Command Authority, is responsible for the management and administration of strategic and tactical nuclear arsenal. Commensurating with the recommendations on national security management, the SFC came in to existence on January 4, 2003. While acknowledging the onerous tasks SFC was undertaking, more transparent measures have been declared recently geared towards clearing certain anomalies and in creating more transparencies on aspects of India’s nuclear policy.