[ad_1]
The US Navy and Air Pressure will quickly full a five-year analysis effort right into a high-tech directed vitality system
The US army will run a “capstone take a look at” for a brand new high-power microwave weapon, in accordance with Pentagon builders, who additionally famous progress on a separate microwave system supposed to carry down enemy “drone swarms.”
Remaining trials for the Excessive-Powered Joint Electromagnetic Non-Kinetic Strike Weapon (HiJENKS) will likely be performed collectively by the Air Pressure Analysis Laboratory (AFRL) and the Workplace of Naval Analysis at a army base close to California’s China Lake, a part of intensive checks this summer time which marked the tip of a five-year growth challenge.
Jeffry Heggemeier, who leads the AFRL’s high-power electromagnetics division, mentioned the weapon nonetheless hasn’t discovered a platform, however famous that its smaller dimension would enable for quite a lot of makes use of in fight.
“We’ll begin taking a look at extra service-specific functions as soon as we’ve achieved this take a look at that demonstrates the know-how,” he advised reporters throughout a briefing late final month.
The HiJENKS is designed to make use of high-powered microwaves to disable enemy electronics, constructing upon earlier work carried out greater than a decade in the past beneath the Counter-electronics Excessive Energy Microwave Superior Missile Mission, also referred to as CHAMP.
The Air Pressure can be making headway on one other directed vitality microwave system, the Tactical Excessive Energy Operational Responder (THOR), which goals to “disable drone swarms” which may threaten troops or army bases, in accordance with THOR program supervisor Adrian Lucero.
“There are different effectors on the market which are supposed to go towards drone methods like weapons, nets and laser methods,” Lucero mentioned throughout the identical June presser. “However what THOR brings to the desk is it has a bigger vary to have an effect on and it has a decreased engagement time.”
A prototype for THOR was just lately despatched overseas for testing, throughout which growth groups tried to increase the system’s vary and enhance its energy, Lucero went on, including that the weapon was 94% dependable in the course of the trials and proved it might be helpful “in the true world.”
You’ll be able to share this story on social media:
[ad_2]
Source link