Electromagnetic weapon

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Electromagnetic weapons are a type of directed energy weapons which use electromagnetic radiation to deliver heat, mechanical, or electrical energy to a target to cause pain or permanent damage. They can be used against humans, electronic equipment, and military targets generally, depending on the technology.

When used against equipment, directed electromagnetic energy weapons can operate similarly to omnidirectional electromagnetic pulse (EMP) devices, by inducing destructive voltage within electronic wiring. The difference is that they are directional and can be focused on a specific target using a parabolic reflector. Faraday cages may be used to provide protection from most directed and undirected EMP effects.

High-energy radio frequency weapons (HERF) or high-power radio frequency weapons (HPRF) use high intensity radio waves to disrupt electronics. High Power Microwave devices use microwave radiation, which has a shorter wavelength than radio.

Contents 1 Development 2 Use against humans 2.1 Examples 3 Use against equipment 4 See also 5 Notes 6 External links

[edit] Development

In the United States of America, the University of Texas-Austin Institute for Advanced Technology (IAT) conducts basic research to advance electrodynamics and hypervelocity physics related to electromagnetic weapons. ^[1]

[edit] Use against humans

Generally considered 'non-lethal weapons', electromagnetic weaponry do however pose health threats to humans. In fact, "non-lethal weapons can sometimes be deadly." ^[2]

Some common bio-effects of electromagnetic or other non-lethal weapons include effects to the human central nervous system resulting in physical pain, difficulty breathing, vertigo, nausea, disorientation, or other systemic discomfort, as weapons not directly considered lethal can indeed cause cumulative damage to the human body.

Project Pandora, conducted by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, WRAIR, included externally induced auditory input from pulsed microwave audiograms of words or oral sounds which create the effect of hearing voices that are not a part of the recipients own thought processes. Microwave pulses can also affect the epidermis (skin) and dermis, the thick sensitive layer of skin and connective tissue beneath the epidermis that contains blood, lymph vessels, sweat glands, and nerve endings, generating a burn from as far as 700 yards.^[3]

[edit] Examples

• MEDUSA (weapon)
• Active Denial System

[edit] Use against equipment

Directed energy weapons such as Boeing’s Airborne Laser which can be mounted on a 747 jet is able to burn the skin off enemy missiles.^[4]

Electromagnetic weapons, including high power microwaves, were used during the Gulf War to disrupt and destroy the enemy's electronic systems and may have been used for other effects. Types and magnitudes of exposure to electromagnetic fields is unknown.^[5]

[edit] See also

• Directed energy weapons
• Electronic warfare
• Less-lethal weapon
• High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program
• Laser applications
• Sonic weaponry

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• High-power microwave weapons - full power ahead? Jane's Defence Weekly, 25 August 2006.