High Powered Microwave - US microwave weapon development is largely focused on applications against small unmanned aircraft. The Pentagon must scale up these efforts to defend against anti-ship missiles.
(LCS-22). Tensions are high in the western Pacific. China has moved missile and amphibious forces to the western shore of the Taiwan Strait, labeling the move a short-term exercise. The rest of the world interprets these deployments as a show of force in an escalating campaign of intimidation to force Taiwan to capitulate to their demands.
High Powered Microwave
Received a flash data link indication that US satellites had detected eight missile launches from mainland China. The directional fans for the missiles dissolve into an enclosing ellipse
Nswcdd Department Stands Up High Powered Microwave Division In Directed Energy Refocusing Efforts > Naval Sea Systems Command > News
Its position, suggesting that DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles were fired at the aircraft carrier by China. The
The SPY-6 radar detects the ballistic tracks of eight incoming threats. When it sounds common, the ship's captain flags the tracks as hostile, relays the tracks via data link to boats
Activates one of her two High Powered Microwave Defense (HPM) systems, each mounted in a small modular container and mounted aft of her flight deck. The systems' energy storage banks are already charged from ship power. When the incoming targets are in range, the system's antenna swings in their direction. With all eight DF-21 reentry vehicles within the HPM beam, a single, short-lived, extremely powerful electromagnetic pulse is fired in their direction. Seconds later the
The SPY-6 trajectory shows that six of the eight incoming missiles are in uncontrolled flight. As the HPM system quickly reloads for another salvo, the destroyer fires several SM-6 missiles to engage the remaining two return vehicles.
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Detect four sea-based cruise missiles breaking the horizon from two different directions, heading directly for the carrier. Their time-on-target was synchronized with the arrival time of the DF-21s. Because the missiles travel at supersonic speeds, the carrier's close-in weapon system (CIWS) cannot engage. And because the incoming missiles use sophisticated electronic jamming and have a low radar cross section,
Se Rolling Airframe Missiles have a low kill probability. In addition, the incoming missiles' different azimuths complicate the defense of the carrier. However
Rapidly swinging her HPM antennas to the azimuths of the incoming missiles and firing a high-energy pulse in every direction. All four cruise missiles fall harmlessly into the water.
After surviving the closely coordinated Chinese attack, all three ships continue their operations. Because the HPM system on board
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, more magazine space is available for offensive weapons to respond to growing Chinese aggression against Taiwan. At the same time, the defense of facilities in Taiwan, Guam and elsewhere was expanded with the same HPM system, located ashore.
Every few months, the Congressional Research Service releases a "Report on Navy Laser, Railgun, and Gun-Launched Guided Projectiles"
The report says that these three types of weapons being developed by the U.S. Navy "could improve the Navy's surface ships' ability to defend against surface vessels, unmanned aerial vehicles, and ultimately anti-ship cruise missiles." However, all three weapon systems suffer from some drawback.
Lasers have not yet reached the power levels needed to deal with significant threats at long range (and therefore only work at close range). They also have the significant disadvantage of being unable to penetrate clouds, which, as any mariner knows, is a common phenomenon at sea. And lasers require significant dwell time on a target to achieve a kill and can only engage one target at a time.
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Meanwhile, projectiles, whether fired from a railgun or powder cannon, do not travel at light velocity and must hit or pass very close to their targets to kill them, limiting their ability to counter threats. They also require magazine space and have limitations on the rate of fire.
But what if there was a weapon system that operated at the speed of light, at considerable range, had near-instantaneous effects on a target, required no magazine space, had effects at altitudes where missiles cannot maneuver aerodynamically, had a beam width that engaged closely spaced targets simultaneously, and was barely affected by adverse weather? As the scenario above describes, HPMs have these potential properties.
Unfortunately, while the U.S. military continues to focus on developing lasers, railguns, and projectiles, its biggest rival, China, is avidly pursuing high-powered microwave technology, rewarding leading researchers in the field. According to The Diplomat, Huang Wenhua, vice president of the Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology, received a first-prize National Science and Technology Progress Award. . . allocated, of course, for the development of an HPM weapon.” Huang is not alone. Liu Guozhi, the director of the New Science and Technology Commission of the Central Military Commission, was also awarded for his research on HPM weapons.
"Based on [Huang's] writings, this HPM weapon may be intended for initial work as a ship-borne anti-missile system. For example, in 2009, prior to the first test, Huang co-authored a paper focusing on the utility of HPM weapons against anti-ship missiles The authors noted that HPM weapons can be used to damage and damage the electronics of an incoming missile, disrupting, for example, the data link, GPS receivers and other guidance mechanisms.
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Capability against potential Chinese aggression. Meanwhile, kinetic defenses against Chinese and Russian ballistic and cruise missiles are becoming technically more difficult, more dependent on magazine space, and more expensive (in an era of renewed budget constraints). So, an immediate goal for the Pentagon should be to find a reasonable way to tip the advantage back to the defense. HPMs should be the focus of this work.
Powerful microwave weapons send a short, concentrated burst of electromagnetic radiation to a target that uses electronics for navigation, guidance, control, or fusion. They disrupt these electronics by overwhelming them with electromagnetic energy, causing arcing and other catastrophic damage that renders the device useless. Think of putting a fork in a microwave and the spark it causes.
There are two ways to disrupt an incoming weapon. The first attacks a target's front opening. This path requires the least amount of energy, but is only effective against weapons that require front-facing apertures, such as electro-optical, infrared, or radar receivers. The second path targets a weapon's internal electronics, including GPS receivers, inertial navigation systems, control surface actuators and firing drum systems. This path requires more energy, implying a more powerful HPM emitter, denser interaction area, or a combination of the two. An adversary can attempt to shield a weapon from microwave energy, but this negatively affects the performance of a front-end aperture and adds weight and complexity to back-end electronics.
Like any weapon system, an HPM system requires a detection and tracking system, which can also be used for battle damage assessment. There are essentially three different technical approaches to generating microwave energy, resulting in different power levels and different tactical applications.
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The lowest HPM power level is generated using fairly conventional transmitters that can be mounted on fixed or mobile platforms, or miniaturized, modular systems deployed as payloads on other systems such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These low-power systems tend to be most useful in short-range anti-UAV applications and can be used in conjunction with other systems (such as lasers that burn UAVs or radio frequency jammers that target their control links). The next higher HPM power level involves single-purpose RF transmitters. Because they are larger and more powerful, this level of system is effective at longer distances on both front and back roads.
The highest power level is achieved when pipe-based systems are used. Imagine the power of the Hoover Dam being transferred in one direction in a nanosecond-long burst of electromagnetic energy. These systems will usually fit into a small container, with an external antenna mounted on top, and can be easily placed on almost any ship with a flight deck. As technology matures, there is significant potential to reduce their footprint. While they have been tested against representative targets at surprisingly long (but currently classified) ranges, they remain mired in a scientific and technological quagmire.
All three types of HPM weapons can be used in an evolving security environment. However, perhaps the most exciting HPM application is at high power, where they have the potential to neutralize many of the sophisticated Chinese and Russian anti-access/area denial systems.
HPM systems have gained mixed traction in the US military, but their adoption has come in inverse proportion to their strength. In fact, several low-power systems designed to counter UAVs are in production. Why? Because UAVs regularly threaten US military forces.
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However, high-throughput HPM systems have not yet progressed from concept to development. This is a compelling parallel to pre-COVID-19 pandemic preparations. The U.S. government knew the potential for a pandemic existed, but because there hadn't been one in decades, sophisticated technologies—such as messenger RNA vaccines—received major investment only after disaster struck. Likewise, because the DoD is rarely attacked at the high end of threat capability, it underinvests in the latest defense technology, and existing investments are evolutionary rather than revolutionary solutions. If HPM investment continues on this track, it may be deployed too late. There are several possible reasons for this:
There is a saying in the business world that if you don't disrupt yourself, someone will
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