US Military's Microwave Weapon Can Fry North Korean Missile Electronics

Re:US Military's Microwave Weapon Can Fry North Korean Missi... by sandworm101 on Tuesday December 05, 2017 @12:07PM (#15853179)

This isn't about shooting down a rocket. This is about disrupting the launch complex. It's about sending enough energy into a complex that computers, the ones in the offices, stop working reliably enough to launch. It is possible, but imho would require a dish far to large to fit on an aircraft. So I agree that it doesn't exist, that this is propaganda.

EM interference is why launch complexes use fiber. You don't want a lighting strike near a 2km cable to cause a squib to fire somewhere. Lighting protections also protect against EM attack.

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Re:US Military's Microwave Weapon Can Fry North Korean Missi... by mitchellberry on Tuesday December 05, 2017 @12:12PM (#15853231)

Am just an armchair commentator but surely NK already has hardened facilities prepared for an EMP from a nuclear strike?

I don't see how a b52 with a kerosene powered engine is anywhere near capable of delivering that same level of radiation.

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Re:US Military's Microwave Weapon Can Fry North Korean Missi... by phkahler on Tuesday December 05, 2017 @12:49PM (#15853727)

Sounds like they're talking about some newer technology that works at range, but this has been around for a long time:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosively_pumped_flux_compre...

The electrical load (output) can be a high power microwave source, or just blast out a massive EMP.

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Re:US Military's Microwave Weapon Can Fry North Korean Missi... by johansch on Tuesday December 05, 2017 @12:26PM (#15853396)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-electronics_High_Power...

Seems like the weapon can be put in cruise missiles.

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Re:US Military's Microwave Weapon Can Fry North Korean Missi... by Someone on Tuesday December 05, 2017 @01:21PM (#15854123)

I expect it must be put in something that can bring it close to its target to be effective. O(n²) power drop off for electromagnetic radiation is tough to beat at a distance of kilometers.

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Re:US Military's Microwave Weapon Can Fry North Korean Missi... by mchahn on Wednesday December 06, 2017 @12:44AM (#15858826)

O(n²) power drop off only applies to a spherical emission. Focused power drops of much more slowly.

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Re:US Military's Microwave Weapon Can Fry North Korean Missi... by Someone on Wednesday December 06, 2017 @03:11AM (#15859446)

You can get a way smaller constant, but the area of a cone still drops off as O(n²) with distance. You would need collimination to beat that, and even then, there’s atmospheric dispersion.

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Re:US Military's Microwave Weapon Can Fry North Korean Missi... by blackflame7000 on Wednesday December 06, 2017 @04:40PM (#15865256)

I suspect the key is definitely in its focusing mechanism that allows for high powered bursts to be relayed to its target with relative efficiency.

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Re:US Military's Microwave Weapon Can Fry North Korean Missi... by riku_iki on Tuesday December 05, 2017 @12:10PM (#15853204)

And after reading this news, North Koreans likely in rush to use some dead simple and reliable knob for launching, instead of computers.

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Re:US Military's Microwave Weapon Can Fry North Korean Missi... by digi_owl on Tuesday December 05, 2017 @12:38PM (#15853571)

Vacuum tube radar, anyone?

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