Military researchers making progress toward high-power microwave weapons

摘要

You don't always have to shoot something to kill it; sometimes a heavy jolt of electronic energy like high-power microwaves will do the trick — especially if what you're trying to put out of commission depends on electronic components. High-power microwaves —just like the related byproduct of a nuclear explosion called electromagnetic pulse (EMP) — essentially can fry modern electronic components virtually in the blink of an eye — just like a bolt of lightning. Think of an incoming missile bombarded with high-power electromagnetic (HPEM) energy. Instead of a precision-guided munition, it's now a blind inanimate object hurtling through the air with little chance of hitting its intended target. Sounds like HPEM technology might be useful on the battlefield. Well, it could be. High-power electromagnetics typically don't kill nearby humans and animals by accident like an exploding warhead can. In theory, users can direct this energy only where it's needed, leaving buildings, people, critical infrastructure, and anything else that doesn't rely on electronics unharmed. There is progress toward enhancing enabling technologies for future HPEM weapons, yet it hasn't come easily. Yet without new enabling technologies in place to control powerful high-power electromagnetics, then designing HPEM weapons likely would be as difficult as ... well, controlling a bolt of lightning.