How It Works - UK (2020-02)

http://www.howitworksdaily.com

DID YOU KNOW? The first hypersonic aircraft was the rocket-propelled X-15

ELECTRONIC WARFARE

Technolog y plays such a key role in modern

warfare – in data collection, communications,

information processing and decision-making –

that a whole range of dev ices have been

developed that target an enemy’s tech.

Electronic attack aircraft, such as Boeing’s

EA-18G Growler, carr y a suite of transmitters that

can jam radio and radar systems, or even inject

false signals into them. Computer net works can

be compromised through ‘c yber warfare’ – the

United States Cyber Command has been one of

the US militar y’s 11 unified commands since

2018. But the ultimate anti-tech weapon has to
      be the electromagnetic pulse – colloquially
      know n as an E-bomb – which is designed to
      w reak havoc on an enemy w ithout physically
      destroy ing any thing or injuring anyone. It works
      by producing a sudden blast of electromagnetic
      energ y that burns out all the computers and
      other electronic systems w ithin a w ide area.

LASER WEAPONS

The sci-fi weapon of choice, the ‘energy beam’ exists in the real world in the

form of lasers. At the low-power end are non-lethal dazzlers – actually less

dangerous than laser pointers, because they use a broad beam to avoid

permanent eye damage. At higher power, lasers are proving to be the perfect

anti-drone weapon. In a military context, drones pose a unique threat

because they’re small and nimble, and can attack in swarms. Laser

beams have an advantage over bullets in travelling at the speed

of light – and they don’t need reloading. The US Navy tested a

prototype using a 33-kilowatt laser in 2014, and has now

ordered a 150 kW version to be fitted to several of its

ships. Even that pales in comparison to the US Air

Force’s megawatt-class Airborne Laser Testbed – a

modified Boeing 747, scrapped in 2011 because

it was too cumbersome for operational use.

The Airborne Laser Testbed, designed to destroy

missiles in flight, proved too impractical for use

© US Air Force

Members of the US Air Force

Cyber Command conducting

simulated electronic warfare © US Air Force

Alert!Alert!

Missilelock

detected!

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