8.4 Microwave Weapons for Atmospheric and Space Applications
777
– Microwave weapons are aerial weapons, since their area of destruction is determined by the width of the directional antenna pattern and the distance to the
target;
– Do not require aiming precision as high as needed for laser weapons or regular
ammunition;
– Microwave weapons are maneuverable and capable of resetting to other targets
immediately;
– Can affect several targets at once;
– Are practically immune to mist, rain, snow, and atmospheric conditions;
– Electrical power can be received from standard power units of a carrier of such
weapons (e.g., plane engines, radar power unit, etc.);
– Do not cause any evident damage to the environment;
– Are more economically beneficial and cheap in terms of production, including
considering combat operation, and requires no new plants for production of
ammunition, their storage, and disposal.
Clearly, such microwave weapons can be used not just as defensive for protection
of separate objects, but also as offensive included in the modern attacking weapon
complexes.
The achieved success in development of powerful and small-size microwave
generators formed a basis for development of an entire range of R&D for practical
creation of RF/HPM weapons in the USA.
Analysis of the existing and developed types of microwave weapons and the means
of their combat use made it possible to form the general scheme of their classification
and identify the general dynamics of development of such systems in the near future
(Table 8.5).
Extensive studies dedicated to creation of microwave weapons are performed in
the interests of all types of military. In the very beginning of the war against Iraq in
2003, explosion of a single E-bomb disabled all electronic equipment of the Baghdad
television center.
The heart of an E-bomb is a high-power microwave generator (HPM), which
performs the function of conversion and accumulation of energy received from the
explosion of the plastic explosive. The accumulated energy is transformed into the
energy of electromagnetic waves emitted by the antenna system in the necessary
direction with the given divergence angle. The E-bomb is capable of generating an
electromagnetic pulse with a peak power of 35 MW, with a duration of 100–150 ns
at a frequency of 6 GHz.
Samples of air-based microwave weapons for destruction of combat control,
communication, and illumination systems, as well as radiotechnical means of missile
defence, are tested in Russia, China, and the USA every year. In the interests of
defeating SRBM, ICBM, and spacecrafts, the concept of the combat use of spacebased microwave weapons for missile defense and space defense thoroughly developed, and ground tests of individual samples and complexes of these weapons are
being conducted.
777
– Microwave weapons are aerial weapons, since their area of destruction is determined by the width of the directional antenna pattern and the distance to the
target;
– Do not require aiming precision as high as needed for laser weapons or regular
ammunition;
– Microwave weapons are maneuverable and capable of resetting to other targets
immediately;
– Can affect several targets at once;
– Are practically immune to mist, rain, snow, and atmospheric conditions;
– Electrical power can be received from standard power units of a carrier of such
weapons (e.g., plane engines, radar power unit, etc.);
– Do not cause any evident damage to the environment;
– Are more economically beneficial and cheap in terms of production, including
considering combat operation, and requires no new plants for production of
ammunition, their storage, and disposal.
Clearly, such microwave weapons can be used not just as defensive for protection
of separate objects, but also as offensive included in the modern attacking weapon
complexes.
The achieved success in development of powerful and small-size microwave
generators formed a basis for development of an entire range of R&D for practical
creation of RF/HPM weapons in the USA.
Analysis of the existing and developed types of microwave weapons and the means
of their combat use made it possible to form the general scheme of their classification
and identify the general dynamics of development of such systems in the near future
(Table 8.5).
Extensive studies dedicated to creation of microwave weapons are performed in
the interests of all types of military. In the very beginning of the war against Iraq in
2003, explosion of a single E-bomb disabled all electronic equipment of the Baghdad
television center.
The heart of an E-bomb is a high-power microwave generator (HPM), which
performs the function of conversion and accumulation of energy received from the
explosion of the plastic explosive. The accumulated energy is transformed into the
energy of electromagnetic waves emitted by the antenna system in the necessary
direction with the given divergence angle. The E-bomb is capable of generating an
electromagnetic pulse with a peak power of 35 MW, with a duration of 100–150 ns
at a frequency of 6 GHz.
Samples of air-based microwave weapons for destruction of combat control,
communication, and illumination systems, as well as radiotechnical means of missile
defence, are tested in Russia, China, and the USA every year. In the interests of
defeating SRBM, ICBM, and spacecrafts, the concept of the combat use of spacebased microwave weapons for missile defense and space defense thoroughly developed, and ground tests of individual samples and complexes of these weapons are
being conducted.