** Boeing's flying blackout****
http://killerapps.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/10/22/boeings_flying_blackout **** ** ** ** ** Posted By John Reed Monday, October 22, 2012 - 5:05 PM Share**** ** ** While everyone in Washington is talking about the upcoming presidential**** debate today, one of the U.S. Air Force's newest high-tech toys was taking** ** big step -- er, flight -- forward.**** ** ** The Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project**** (CHAMP) is an effort to build a missile that flies over -- not into -- a**** target, be it an entire military base, neighborhood, or a even a lone tank** ** and shuts down all the electronics inside without harming a soul. (Think of* *** it almost as a mini-EMP in a rocket.) On Oct. 16, a CHAMP missile flew an*** * hour-long preprogrammed route low over the Utah desert, "degrading and**** defeating" the electronics inside seven different targets. In a building**** along the route packed with computers, the screens all went dark as CHAMP*** * sailed by, emitting a blast of high-power microwaves, according to**** CHAMP-maker Boeing's Oct. 22 press release announcing the test flight. (The* *** weapon even took out the remotely controlled TV cameras that were monitoring **** the tests, claimed Boeing.)**** ** ** As the Chicago-based defense giant says in its press release, "CHAMP, which* *** renders electronic targets useless, is a non-kinetic alternative to**** traditional explosive weapons that use the energy of motion to defeat a**** target." (Side note: "energy of motion" is a nice way of saying that**** missiles, bombs, and bullets slam into things and explode.)**** ** ** So, how does CHAMP fit into the Pentagon's post Iraq and Afghan war plans?** ** As everyone knows, the Defense Department is focusing on how to defeat new** ** generations of air defense radars, surface to air missiles, anti ship**** missiles, and a host of other technologies that are specifically meant to*** * keep American weapons systems at bay.**** ** ** This means coming up with a fleet of new stealth bombers, fighters, and**** drone jets that can penetrate these defenses. It also means creating a bevy* *** of long-range -- or standoff weapons -- capable of being launched by**** unstealthy jets far away from heavily defended targets. Where does something **** like CHAMP come in? As a door kicker. Launched from a stealth aircraft and** ** designed to take out enemy air defense networks and command and control**** centers, CHAMP would pave the way for less stealthy jets and help to "blind" **** the enemy.**** ** ** "In the near future, this technology may be used to render an enemy's**** electronic and data systems useless even before the first troops or aircraft **** arrive," said Keith Coleman, CHAMP program manager at Boeing's Phantom Works **** division, in a press release.**** ** ** Still, don't expect to see CHAMP fielded soon. It's simply meant to**** demonstrate that such a weapon is feasible. In the meantime, the Pentagon is **** buying EA-18G Growler electronic attack jets for the Navy while the Air**** Force and Marine Corps hope to use something called the Next Generation**** Jammer along with powerful Active Electronically Scanned Array radars (AESA* *** radars can be used to jam other radars, in addition to many other things) on **** their F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to defeat enemy sensors. And don't be**** surprised if the Navy decides to equip its planned fleet of stealthy combat* *** drones, known as UCLASS, with some sort of electronic warfare gear aimed at* *** jamming enemy electronics.**** ** ** ==========================================**** (F)AIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics in this **** message are copyrighted, unless specifically noted otherwise. All rights to* *** these copyrighted items are reserved. 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