Joint US-UK experiments on the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Trident laser, the UK ORION laser, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Janus laser have developed a technique to simulate intense x-ray effects on coupon scale targets. These experiments validated models in which the samples were directly illuminated by the laser. Further, they have developed techniques to significantly enhance the laser coupling using thin layers of optically transparent “tamping” layers and laid the foundation for the development of a large area direct impulse effects test capability on NIF. “Tamping” layers have been shown to increase the laser coupling by more than 10 times [1, 2] and to produce stress waves and impulses that simulate the effects from high fluence x-ray irradiation. In collaboration with NIF and Z experiments, the DLI experiments have demonstrated that the prompt impulse and stress (shock) wave magnitude and shape effectively simulate the effect generated by the absorption of an intense x-ray pulse.