Publications on combustion of hydrocarbon-air mixtures under the action of a weak electric field and laser radiation are analyzed. A specific feature of the authors' experimental study is a pulsed-periodic action of an electric field and focused laser radiation, which does not lead to electric discharge or optical breakdown. Numerous experiments reveal a noticeable effect of weak electric fields on combustion processes. Application of an electric field may result in expansion of the limits of flammability and combustion of fuel-air mixtures, changes (decrease or increase) in the burning rate, shifting of flame stabilization toward lean mixtures, reduction of the concentration of hazardous substances (for instance, NO x and CO) in combustion products, etc.The influence of electric fields on stability and emission properties of the flame is a known phenomenon, which was considered in numerous publications. Here we describes only some of the results obtained in this area. Calcote and Pease noted [1] that the flame stabilization limits can be substantially expanded by applying a longitudinal electric field to a Bunsen burner. This phenomenon was attributed to the effect of ionic wind induced by interaction of the electric field with chemiionization in the flame. Noorani and Holmes [2] reached 83% expansion of the laminar flame breakdown limits in a premixed methane-air mixture. Sepp and Ulybyshev [3] performed a systematic experimental study of the influence of electric fields on stability of both laminar and turbulent flames. Calcote and Berman [4] observed reduction of NO emission under the action of an electric field on a laminar flame of propane. Vatazhin et al.[5] managed to reach a more than tenfold decrease in CO emission in methane and propane flames. In that case, the electric potential for methane varied from zero to 1 kV. Various effects of electric fields on the flame were described. Thus, for instance, the possibility of using a corona discharge to affect the flame was consid-1 Khristianovich Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090; paveltr@itam.nsc.ru. ered in [6,7]. As Bradley and Nasser mentioned [6], the use of a corona discharge requires a greater amount of energy (by a factor of 500) than the use of an electric field acting via ionic wind.The electric properties of flames have been studied since early 1950s [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. The primary goal of those studies was to detect and identify ions in flames. In addition, the mechanisms of ion generation in flames were examined, and the inherent electric field of the flame was determined. The effect of the electric field on the flame was considered in [13,16,17]. Approximately 50 types of ions were identified in hydrocarbon flames, including CH + 3 , H 3 O + , CHO + , and C 3 H + 3 . The ion concentration was measured, and its peak was found to be located on the flame front [17]. The concentration of negative ions was found to be low (approx...