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A comment on US Military's Microwave Weapon Can Fry North Korean Missile Electronics. Parent comment

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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