The High Power Microwave Technologies Branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory is looking for an innovative approach for non-lethal weapons technology that targets enemies’ electronic systems.
New research into high-power microwaves could make them a crucial tool of electronic warfare. The U.S. Air Force’s newest directed-energy weapon program, the Counter-Electronics High-Powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP), would create a weapon that fires powerful bursts of HPM, frying the electronics of multiple targets without harming people or other infrastructure.
CHAMP’s microwaves could be delivered from pods on airplanes, unmanned aerial vehicles or even retrievable cruise missiles programmed to safely land near their points of origin, says Doug Beason, a member of the Air Force’s Science Advisory Board who has worked on directed-energy weapons. “You want to fly close to the target. You do not want to hit the target kinetically,” Beason says. Hurdles to a usable system include miniaturizing the antennas and the power supply. According to Air Force documents, the winner of the $40 million CHAMP contract, expected to be chosen this year, would have five years to demonstrate a working device.
