High Power Microwave Weaponry

[Switch625]

The United States appears to have an ace up it's sleeve for the new war.

This new weapon is carried on a Tomahawk Cruise Missile chassis, and is capable of generating a 2 billion watt microwave energy pulse which will fry any electronics within 1,000 feet of the generator not shielded against such a power surge. Concrete and rock will not stop the energy pulse, so buried bunkers are not immune to the burst. Basically, it's EMP without the nuke.

Drop a few of these HPM missiles, and you can blast the area back to the eighteenth century. Talk about threat suppression. Forget RADAR, SAM batteries, missiles of any sort, communications,... basically, anything more advanced than basic slugthrowers would be knocked out. This weapon will paralyze any modern military. Also, those weapons of mass destruction would be useless without delivery systems.

Very, very nasty.

Links for your consideration.
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101030127/nmicro.html
http://www.fas.org/spp/military/docops/defense/dtap/weapons/ch100309.htm
http://www.infosatellite.com/news/2003/01/p220103warfare.html

 

[GerrardCapashen]

As long as the SAM/AAA batteries don't shoot down the HPM missile, then they will be incapacitated for how long? I assume that the effects are permanent after reading the articles. Sounds like a very nice tool for minimizing casualties by disabling rather than destroying enemy units.

 

[amadeus]

I heard about this, and it sounds like a very flexible weapon to basically freeze enemies in their tracks.

Perhaps it could be deployed to the Korean peninsula to deactivate the DPRK's shells on the DMZ.

 

[napoleon526]

Originally posted by rmsharpe
Perhaps it could be deployed to the Korean peninsula to deactivate the DPRK's shells on the DMZ.

Now now, let's focus on one war at a time. :tank:

 

[Illustrious]

Sorry, but I'm incapable of rational comment on this one: the headline just wrecked me..... "High Power Microwave Weaponry" simply sparked off bizarre images of USAF bombers dropping ovens on Saddam.......

 

[Switch625]

Originally posted by Illustrious
Sorry, but I'm incapable of rational comment on this one: the headline just wrecked me..... "High Power Microwave Weaponry" simply sparked off bizarre images of USAF bombers dropping ovens on Saddam.......

"The sortie was successful, General. He's cooked!"

 

[amadeus]

I suppose this will replace the current U.S. policy of dropping kitchen ranges over Iraq.

 

[allhailIndia]

Or ready made meals to Iraqis

 

[Perfection]

No to easy to counteract, a hundred dollers worth of aluminum foil should do the trick

 

[sabo]

well at least saddam will be able to warm up last nights supper

 

[allhailIndia]

Or get the correct temperature to prepre Sarin and Tabun not to mention VX gas:flamedevi:

 

[Switch625]

Originally posted by Perfection
No to easy to counteract, a hundred dollers worth of aluminum foil should do the trick

Do you know the effect of high energy microwaves on metal? The microwaves strip electrons off the atoms of metal and kick them into motion. You end up with a massive electrical discharge, not unlike a bolt of lightning.

A few hundred dollars worth of aluminium foil would not do much good.

 

[Perfection]

Sure it would place over all your crap with out it touching and use it to ground the darn thing, you'd also need a copper wire leading to somewher unimportant

 

[Switch625]

What we need is someone who knows more about this stuff than either of us do.

Col! Where are you?!

 

[Pongui]

Perfection knows what he's talking about. A grounded case of sheet steel will protect electronics within. Note that grounding is difficult to accomplish with mobile equipment in a dry environment. Oh, and this weapon is weather-dependent.

I like it, though. I like weapons that destroy weapons.

 

[CurtSibling]

This is a good weapon that destroys without destruction!
Sort of defeats the purpose of why we industrial nations pick wars!

How will the tank and aircraft building companies make any money with this weapon?
Oh well, I guess someone will have to replace the friendly-fire casualties...

 

[allhailIndia]

what will happen to all those millions of people employed in the arms industry

 

[Pongui]

I was wrong about the weather - this gadget doesn't mind the rain. About grounding - simple grounding of the housing and electronics may increase vulnerability. Isolated ground is the way to go.

The technology isn't really advanced. A half-ton of capacitors are discharged simultaneously, that's all.

Old punchcard & vacuum tube computers might stand up to this weapon.

 

[philippe]

Hmm i think the inventor played too much with the tesla weapons in red alert 2

 

[Zwelgje]

Won't a cage of Faraday (sp?) help to avoid damage by this weapon? No energy should be able to penetrate such a cage but I don't know when a huge amount of energy is used as in this case...