New Microwave-based Weapon in China can Disable Vehicles and Missiles

A new microwave-based weapon that has been in development for the past six years by a team of scientists from the Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology in Xi’an, China has the ability to shut down electronics systems by bombarding the target with energy pulses. This microwave-based weapon is extremely potent due to the fact that it is compact (able to fit on a lab workbench) and can easily be fitted in missiles or drones while being able to be effective even against EMP-shielded objects such as other missiles or vehicles. The project recently won China’s National Science and Technology Progress Award.

Since it uses invisible microwaves, this is also a very “clean” compared to other means of defensive weapons that rely on physical damage to be effective. The microwave bombardment interferes and simply overloads targeted electronic circuits, causing them to shut down. Paired with a cruise missile like the CHAMP, built by Boeing for DARPA for example it can sneak into enemy airspace and disable all base defenses entirely with a single launch. Aside from active deployment on drones or aircrafts, microwave-based weapons are also useful as human-safe landmines and traps.

This type of “safer” weapons systems are expected to be the future of warfare as it is very effective while accepted as much more humane by the public since it is designed for use against other machines. China, like the US has been developing other microwave-based weapons for some time now, including the Poly WB-1 back in 2014 designed for crowd dispersal use as a non-lethal ray gun that makes people feel that their skin is on fire when directed at them. The microwave-based weapon was deemed then by both the US and China to be much safer than rubber bullets and tear gas.