CHAMPS

Courtesy Google Images

I missed this … it’s an item from October 2012. Boeing and the USAF are developing a missile that will disable all the electronic circuits in a building. The CHAMP (Counter-electronics High-powered Advanced Missile Project) emits a microwave pulse that causes electronics to stop working.

DVICE reports that CHAMP was test flown over a building chock full of electronic equipment at a Utah testing range. The missile fired a microwave beam at the structure and disabled all the electronics in the building, including the cameras monitoring the test.

Courtesy Google Images

It’s intriguing to think the military has the ability to disable an enemy’s response capability without a loss of life or destruction of a building’s infrastructure. It certainly seems much cleaner than say a bunker buster.

The U.S has always had the ability to jam an enemy’s electronic equipment. When I was stationed at MCAS Cherry Point my A4 squadron, VMA-223, was situated next to an EA-6B Prowler squadron. According to joebaugher.com Marines flew the Northrop Grumman A6 Intruder in Vietnam. The Intruder Association states the A6 was developed to meet the Navy’s need for an all-weather aircraft that could attack land and sea targets.

Courtesy Google Images

The EA-6B was the electronic jamming counterpart to the Intruder. Instead of a bevy of bombs, it carried an array of electronic jamming equipment. Many of us in VMA-223 were led to believe (but I had no way of confirming) that it was capable of causing a blackout in New York City.

I think if the U.S. is able to deploy this technology it could be a huge game changer for the U.S. in terms of how our country conducts combat operations. Assume an enemy doesn’t figure out how to defend against the CHAMP, then anything they have that uses electronics could be rendered useless leaving them virtually defenseless.

Does anyone else think CHAMP will have a profound effect on modern warfare?

Please follow the link to view a simulation on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=O-BukbpkOd8