On October 24, the Pentagon got to witness the successful testing of a weapon that has been in development the past four years. Boeing‘s Phantom Works successfully showcased the Counter-Electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP) and in doing so may have changed the future of warfare and the attack capabilities of the US moving forward.
During the test of the technology, CHAMP flew over the Utah Test and Training Range and discharged high power microwaves. The target of the controlled bursts was to test a site that had been hooked up with an array of electronics and other devices. CHAMP completely shut down all electrical devices that were in the compound including the camera that was being used to record the test. The area suffered no other physical damage except that which occurred to the electronics equipment.
CHAMP program manager for Boeing Phantom Works, Keith Coleman, was very excited about the results. He confirmed that the test was highly successful and stated that CHAMP hit seven different targets on the testing range. After it shut down the electronics system of its pre-planned targets the prototype flew over the empty desert and self destructed. Coleman stated in a video after the test that, “We hit every target we wanted to. Today we made science fiction into science fact.”
Vice President of Advanced Boeing Aircraft, James Dodd, is hopeful that the system will be in place and fully operable very soon. The CHAMP system is something that the US government has been in need of, given that foreign powers have been acquiring new radar systems that make stealth technology less effective. Referred to as passive radar, the technology is something that other countries are looking at to identify the United States’ stealth planes. Since planes like the new F-35 cannot be picked up by conventional radar, the passive system looks at a wide spectrum of “anomalies to track a jet.” In order to neutralize this threat the CHAMP system will use the new active electronically scanned array (AESA) to shut the radars down so that the stealth planes remain undiscovered. Observers believe that CHAMP or AESA will be seen used in conjunction with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to protect the government’s heavy investment in the hardware.
Source: Business Insider
Photo: Business Insider
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