From sci-fi to reality: The computer-blitzing drone that can cripple a nation's electronics at the , page 1

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Topic started on 2-12-2012 @ 01:58 PM by happykat39

Now they don't need nukes to launch an EMP attack.

SOURCE

Down the years and across the universe, the heroes of science-fiction classics from Dan Dare to Star Wars and The Matrix have fought intergalactic battles with weapons that wipe out enemy electronics at the touch of a button.

Now scientists have turned fantasy into reality by developing a missile that targets buildings with microwaves that disable computers but don’t harm people.

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing successfully tested the weapon on a one-hour flight during which it knocked out the computers of an entire military compound in the Utah desert.

reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 02:03 PM by AuntC

Oh brilliant, how nice of them. Whats next? They can cook all the meat in my house with a fly by so I wont have to cook? Or maybe they will knock out the power grid doing some experiments? Oh yeah we know they will enjoy doing that.

reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 02:08 PM by Bedlam

You can do this with a number of Raytheon AESA radar systems too, any aircraft fitted out with the system can fry up unprotected ground installations on demand. Or incoming missiles. Or the pilots in the other aircraft.

reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 02:14 PM by speculativeoptimist

reply to post by happykat39

This doesn't surprise me so much as far as it's creation, but I love how they say this:

However, experts fear that the project could create an arms race, with countries scrambling to build their own electromagnetic pulse weapons.

And then show a diagram of how it works. Of course it is more complex,but still...

We may be hearing of "cigar shaped ufos" again soon eh?

reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 02:15 PM by Zaphod58

It's not a true EMP, but there was an interesting article that talks about how this isn't really the revolutionary weapon it's made out to be. It's a High Powered Microwave (HPM), and they've been in development for decades. It has a lot of potential, and this is the first really small one I've heard of, but it's entirely possible that this was a PR overhype.

defense.aol.com...

edit on 12/2/2012 by Zaphod58 because: (no reason given)

reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 02:21 PM by happykat39

What scares me about this technology is that you don't have to have a missile to use it. Imagine driving a van with one of these in it by an airport and aiming it at planes taking off and landing. Most, if not all, of your big airliners are "fly by wire" and this would pretty much make a multi million dollar aircraft into a lead brick.

reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 02:26 PM by hadriana

We have the right to bear arms. In the past that was interpreted as the right for small arms to defend one's home with, maybe hunt with.

Now maybe we need to think about arms to take down drones flying over our properties with.

An armed populace has no power if the air above their lands is full of robots that would do them harm at anyone's whim.

What happens when the bad guys learn how to hack the drones? Or the good guys that have the drones become the bad guys? Or what if they already are?

reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 02:27 PM by Bedlam

Originally posted by happykat39
What scares me about this technology is that you don't have to have a missile to use it. Imagine driving a van with one of these in it by an airport and aiming it at planes taking off and landing. Most, if not all, of your big airliners are "fly by wire" and this would pretty much make a multi million dollar aircraft into a lead brick.

HA! All you need to do is hack the Vigilant Eagle systems at airports equipped with them. Use the array to shoot down airliners instead of missiles.

If you had the tech, you could probably put a big enough array in an 18 wheeler to fry up an airplane on approach. It's not the sort of thing you can buy at the Radio Shack though.

reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 04:10 PM by eazyriderl_l

so if i read this right, then with a set of proper surge protectors, or a ground-fault interrupter, or even a microwave shield maybe a faraday cage would stop this?
possibly not being powered on might also negate this "bomb"

im not sure yet just brainstorming

reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 04:10 PM by eazyriderl_l

also if this is microwaves could it have the penetration power to hit places so far underground like our government hides in specifically to avoid these "emps"

edit on 2-12-2012 by eazyriderl_l because: double post so i changed the test

reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 04:46 PM by happykat39

Originally posted by eazyriderl_l
so if i read this right, then with a set of proper surge protectors, or a ground-fault interrupter, or even a microwave shield maybe a faraday cage would stop this?
possibly not being powered on might also negate this "bomb"

im not sure yet just brainstorming

A good Faraday cage should help but the article states that the electronics is fried by this thing before surge protectors have a chance to protect them. Besides, there are enough "loop" circuits in any complex electronic gear that can be overloaded that all the surge protectors in the world wouldn't help. The same loop circuits would also fry even if the unit was disconnected, or unplugged, from the power source.

edit on 2-12-2012 by happykat39 because: clarified a point

reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 05:23 PM by eazyriderl_l

reply to post by happykat39

hmm. im thinking of nearly a peg-board computer. about 8 to 64 bit home made but that would do nothing for a monitor. also if this does that much overload what kinda heat would be generated and dissipated cause maybe you dont want your cell phone in your front pocket

reply posted on 2-12-2012 @ 05:38 PM by happykat39

Originally posted by eazyriderl_l
reply to post by happykat39

hmm. im thinking of nearly a peg-board computer. about 8 to 64 bit home made but that would do nothing for a monitor. also if this does that much overload what kinda heat would be generated and dissipated cause maybe you dont want your cell phone in your front pocket