Research on High Power Microwave Weapons Guoqi Ni1 Benqing Gao2 Junwei Lu31&3. School of Microelectronic Engineering of Griffith University, Brisbane 4122 Australia 2. School of Electronic Engineering of Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081 ChinaAbstract-This article describes for high power microwave (abbreviation HPM) weapons research from its procedures and developing trends. In the process of researching, developing and using weapons, we have been seeking a real “multi-purpose” weapon which is able to attack the overall target, suitable in all climates and on multi-platform carrier, both for battle field and peace keeping operations. As a result of over twenty years ofresearch, HPM weapons are found to be the optimum answer for all the questions. I. INTRODUCTION The development of modern electronic technology, especially the continuous breakthrough of the key technologies in micro-electronics in recent years have made large-scaled integrated circuit and super high speed integrated circuit widely used in various weapon systems, and produced new, precise, compact and intelligence weapons. It is imperative to develop a new generation of weapon, because conventional weapons is not longer capable to deal with the complex electronic equipment and advanced technologies. Then high power microwave weapons arise. It is one of significant achievements in the application of microwave technology at the end of last century. It is still at the stage of trail production and preliminary equipment, but there is no doubt that it will become a favorite in future war as of its significant and outstanding characteristics on operationaleffects [1]. So the world developed countries have focused on the investigation of high power microwave weapon. It hasbeen developed very fast in United States, Great Britain andRussia, it has been equipped to troops on a trial basis, and especially the United States tested it in Iraqi War and made it consummate in Kosovo war. This article reviews the processof the study in high power microwave weapons and prospects for its developing trends, in the purpose of making people give enough attention to the power of high-powered microwave weapons and developing a new method andtechnology of effective defense in the near future. II. THE PROCESS OF RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH POWER MICROWAVE WEAPONS High power microwave means the radio electromagnetic wave which peak power of microwave source is at 100MW ~100GW and operating frequency is at 1~300 GHz. In this article, “HPM” is an abbreviation of High Power Microwave. The principle to destroy electronic devices via HPM is like thunder and lighting, the electronic devices is blasted by extreme strong electromagnetic pulse through “front door” and “rear door” [2]. “Front door” is a path which equipmentuses to open up towards outside (e.g. antennas). Strong electromagnetic pulse is directionally guided to the targeted equipment to make its operation performance malfunctioned or deactivated completely. If the receiving frequency is known, via ingenious design, much worse destructiveness can be done. “Rear door” means leads, power cables, telephone lines, damaged shielded parts and even the holes on shielding case, through which standing wave energy can couple into and damage the equipment. Human exposure to HPM radiation is hazardous: HPM has heat effect and non-heat effect on human body. Microwave energy’s heat effect which causes the living organization to produce heat, to be burnt or killed, the low energy microwave radiation is hazardous to human too, known as non-heat effect. Scientists conclude that low energy microwave is harmful to the human health; it maycause neurasthenia and heart blood vessel system disorder. Characteristic of HPM mainly include: a). It can attack various targets. It not only damages electronic equipment in weapon systems, but also destroys them; not only makes people temperately loss their operating abilities, but also harms or even kills them. b). It can be used in many ways. It not only can be used as directional finding weapon and hit the targets accurately, but also destroy a mass of electronicequipment parlaying the whole systems. c). It can be used in all kinds of weather. Microwave can propagate in clouds, dust, mist and rain in the sky. d). It is a three dimension weapon, itnot only can injury and kill the external personnel and do a great damage to electronic equipment on the ground, but also go through the internal of the targets to kill the inside hiding personnel, evermore, it can penetrate through the targets, kill the personnel who are concealing in a enclosed position andinside armored vehicles, no one can escape its “evil hands”. e). It can be carried on multi-platform. It can be built incruise missile warheads, unmanned airplanes, or installed on a fixed platform. A. Research and Development of HPM Sources Before World War II, it was assumed that electromagneticwave could be used to destroy airplanes; as a result of the study, radar system was unexpectedly born. As early as the nineteenth century, physicist Hertz considered electromagnetic wave to be a very power source and able to be used by the human beings. 0-7803-9433-X/05/$20.00 ©2005 IEEE. 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In 1970’s, the development of pulse power technology and of diode based on negative pole field emitting and generating strong current electronic beams made great contribution to the revolutionary process in the produce of high power electronic beams, it provides good quality, large powered and highenergy intense current pulse electronic beam source to the R & D of HPM source, and it makes possible to reach unprecedented power level in research and development ofnew types of intense current relativity microwave devices and generation of coherent electromagnetic radiation fromcentimeter wave to millimeter wave. In order to peacefully use nuclear technology, develop new energy source and satisfy the human’s demand in new energy, controllable nuclear fusion becomes a hot topic on the scientific forums, thus the relevant research and experiments of plasma physics theory was started. Through many tests and demonstration, the electromagnetic wave simulation and restriction of inertia nuclear fusion has been known. With the fast movement ofhigh density physics study, pulse power technology is used inelectromagnetic applications. Under the influence of nuclear research, the marriage between plasma physics and pulse power technology is happened, the microwave weapon is accordingly produced. With pulse power, scientists can generate relativity charged particles at 10KA, 1GW or evenhigher power. A relativity electronic beam means the onewhich has electronic energy at over 510keV, and can be used to supply high power microwave. A relativity electronic beam can be introduced into HPM devices such as magnetron,cyclotron tube and traveling-wave tube, making microwavehave the characteristic of effective output frequencyadjustment which is changing accordingly with particleenergy. Later on, virtual cathode oscillator and relativity klystron appeared. All the above have established the foundation of microwave weapons in theory, have proven the feasibility of using microwave as weapon in technology, and it is ready for the search and development of microwave weapon devices [3]. TABLE ICAPABILITY TARGET OF PART HPM Name of HPM device P (GW)F (GHz) τ(ns) η(%) National Virtual cathode oscillator 1.2 5.9 America Freedom electronic laser >1 40 30 America Axial driven cathode oscillator 7.5 1.17 America Plasma auxiliary slowwave oscillator 4—8 15-25 America Single pulse looping-wave oscillator 1.5 8—12.5 60 30 Soviet Union Looping-wave oscillator 1 10 2 30 Soviet Union Field radiation oscillator 0.06 7 25 Soviet Union Looping-wave oscillator 1.5 X band 60 50 Russian Repeating pulselooping-wave oscillator 1 10 2 30 Russian Relativity magnetron 0.1 1000 Russian Improved cyclotron tube 2 12.5 50 Russian Polarized radiation microwave tube0.06 7 700 25 Russian Former Soviet Union was the first who successfully developed HPM weapon, and was far ahead of other countries on the research of HPM source especially. But USA catches up and surpasses it becoming the leader in this area after theseparation of former Soviet Union. Table 1 shows capability target of part HPM. In the blow table, P=Power, F= Frequency, τ= Pulse Width, η= Converting effectiveness. The fig. 1 shows relationship both power and frequency ofpartly HPM device . Fig. 1. The relationship both power and frequency of partly HPM devicewere mysteriously destroyed. It indicates that US is leading the world in the design, research and development of militarymicrowave weapons, which is nearly ready to be used in real time war. It also shows that the research and development of HPM has entered into a period of practical exercise[4][5]. B. Research and Development of HPM Weapon System In the beginning of Gulf War in 1991, in the sky above Baghdad, once appeared a mysterious stealthy “F-117”air-borne cruise missile, on which USA installed “experimental tactical microwave missile warhead”. After the explosion, a large variety of Iraqi military electronic equipment near the blast site suddenly was disabled. The overall electronic equipment seemed neither damaged, nor suffered fromelectronic interference and compression, but some of electronic devices inside of the Iraqi electronic equipment USA is not only conducting HPM weapons, but alsofocusing on the study and development of microwave bomb and microwave missile warhead. For example, a new type of air-drop HPM bomb has been manufactured in nuclear weapon institute, Department of Energy of America. This bomb is designed to destroy the electronic equipment on the
mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles with wideband frequency microwave radiation. Boeing has produced a HPM bomb to damage the electronic equipment installed on the enemy’s tanks. III. TRENDS AND POTENTIAL DIRECTIONS OF HPM WEAPONS A. Trends of HPM Weapons a. Compactness of HPM source. It will include 4 times of increase in output power of super-wide band source, 6 times of increase in narrow band pulse length, up to one frequencymultiplying range at narrow band source adjustment, about227Kg at weight and 0.0425m3 at volume (excluding antennaand pulse power source). Former Soviet Union was the earliest country to start the HPM weapon research, which already tested microwave weapon by transmitting microwave into spherically stratified ionosphere, to interfere radio communication and make radar useless. Among their research results, the most successful and mature product is the defense purposed HPM weapon sample. The fig. 2 shows the component and relationship of three conventional heavy duty trucks of the HPM weapon. This weapon radiates 1 GW of microwave. When the killing effective range is 1Km, the target energy density is at 400W/cm2. when the killing distance is 10Km, the target energy density is 4W/cm2. It can make the enemy’s striking planes loss control of aviation electronic equipment andtargeting systems, deactivate the anti-radiation missile warhead and make the air cruise missiles and other bombs loss operational abilities. b. Antenna will be of smaller aperture, high power, high gain, super-wide band and intelligence. It will include decreased to 18 inches in antenna aperture and about 15-20db of antenna gain. The effect of HPM weapons with intelligence antenna is the best for the antagonism equipments of radiating microwave. c. Pulse power driver will be more compact, highereffective and more power. It is required that the volume issmaller than 0.28 m3, weight about 227Kg and high peak power greater than 50GW. d. HPM weapons can be researched by computer simulation. At present, many experiments on microwave theory and technology are being researched by computer simulation. For example, designed of antenna is simulated byusing HFSS software, and electromagnetic compatibilityresearched is simulated by FEMLAB software, and so on[6]. Russian today’s success is based upon the research of the scientists in former Soviet Union, keeping them not falling behind the Americans. The Russian scientists built a “desksize” explosive flux compression generator inside the weapon, which can convert explosion energy into powerful electromagnetic pulse wave. The test shows that it provides 100MJ “single emitting” microwave energy. Now Russia is studying and testing a ground based RF weapon for the purpose of destroying satellites, and also is developing a HPM weapon aiming to paralyze all the modern andadvanced defense systems in western countries. Its released energy is assumed to be able to destroy the radar systems andsolid nerve systems of C3I system along the overall NATO borders. e. High power microwave effectiveness and antipersonnel ability. It includes the RF tests on various of air, sea, ground, air-space military equipment; thedevelopment andestablishment of RF effect, and on the analogy of which, to other equipment and systems, bringing forth new ideas of resistance technologies and applying HPM to the equipped military weapons in battle field; assuring the safety of personnel and estimating the valve value of necessary living objects’ effects. In September 2001, Russian Rosoboron Export Company exhibited a called “Ranets-E” mobile microwave RF beaming system, which can reduce the weapon accuracy within 10Km of distance. It can rotate 360º, elevate from 0º-60ºto destroy the electronic equipment inside the accurately guided weapons, it also can protect important military facilities from being attacked by the enemy’s accurately guided weapons, it also can protect important military facilities from being attacked by the enemy’s accurately guided weapons. It consists of antenna subsystem, high power generator, detecting and controlling equipment as well as power source f. Satisfying the system integration requirement of military platform. It will include integration and installation of pulse power driver, HPM source and output antenna onto fixed or rotary, airplane, Navy ships, vehicles, plane’s hanging containers, unmanned aircraft, munitions and other military platforms. g. According to the electromagnetic interference from both sides of HPM weapons. It will be studied our side of enforcement measurement inside the equipment and system, which includes transferring the electromagnetic enforcement measurement to the end users and let them solve the going problems of electromagnetic interference and electromagnetic capability as well as forecast the threat; judging thesensitivities in air, ground, sea, space and key American military systems; developing the enforced resistant measurement with theminimum impact on system performance, expenses and maintenance. subsystem. It has two models, one is fixed and the other is mobile. It operates in centimeter band; the power output is over 500MW, the transmitting pulse width is 10-20ns. Weapon vehicle (carries microwave weapons)Power source vehicle carries generators and fuel)Information vehicle (air surveillance radar)h. Additional application evaluation. Evaluation is basedupon the effect valuation and technology development. If it can be use in other areas in the future besides the application in military, it is being considered to use in air-ground missiledefense and space control. The evaluation requires thetechnical demonstration in an appropriate situation. Fig. 2 Component and relationship of the HPM weapon of Soviet Union