Why do we never hear about CHAMP? CHAMP may be the most significant tactical weapon ever developed and fielded. It will dominate the next war. CHAMP (Counter electronics High powered Advanced Missile Project) was fully developed and fielded almost ten years ago (
http://www.boeing.com/features/2012/10/bds-champ-10-22-12.page).
It is an EMP (ElectroMagnetic Pulse) weapon capable of disabling small circuits through the battlefield. Aircraft that rely on printed circuits to fly will be grounded, missile guidance systems will fail to function, radios will become inoperable, computers will cease to work, tank gunnery/laser systems will become inoperable… even the complex electronics required to detonate a nuclear weapon will become useless. CHAMP is online and ready. Yet we rarely hear anything about it.
Most people think of nuclear blasts when they hear “EMP”. But EMP today is much easier to generate. CHAMP can be mounted under the wing of an aircraft like a missile or rocket pod.
So how does it work? First, it must be understood that EMP is NOT radiation and cannot be shielded against like radiation. Radiation is particles (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc). Dense lead can block these particles and “shield” against radiation. EMP is NOT particles. It is magnetism. It cannot be blocked like radiation. Your home microwave oven is a microwave (EMP generator, that is why you cannot put metal in it. The entire planet cannot block the magnetism created at the center of the earth… that’s why we have magnetic poles.
EMP consists of an expanding and contracting magnetic field. A generator moves a (ferrous) metal material in a static magnetic field and induces current. EMP takes a moving (expanding and contracting) magnetic field and exposes a stationary object to it. A generator moves the object… EMP moves the field. The effect is the same: induced current. When your grandma turned on too many lights and appliances, the fuse in the cellar carried too much current and the fuse “burned out”. EMP does that to microcircuits. Too much electrical current “fuses” the circuits in a computer, a radio, etc.
The one defense is a “Faraday Cage”. A simple Faraday Cage can be constructed from a metal “GI” trash can. Line the can with a metallic fabric and insulate it from the can itself. Ground the fabric. Place the items to be protected inside. If an EMP attack occurs, the magnetism will induce current in the fabric and be grounded. The equipment inside will be safe.
The problem is that if the slightest pinhole is present in the can or the fabric, the EMP will reach the objects inside. This means no connectors can access the protected equipment. You cannot use the equipment until you remove it from the cage. Then it is vulnerable to EMP once again.
In the 1980’s, it was assumed that one of the six counterbattery radars in a counter-artillery battery was a microwave (EMP) generator with an effects “fan” of about forty degrees and a range of about 45 kilometers. There’s nothing really new here except the equipment has gotten small and lighter.
So why don’t we hear more about it?
Is it too scary to be contemplated? Strategic use of EMP could ruin any modern nation. For a look at its impact on a national scale, you might read “One Second After” by William R. Forstchen. It has a forward by Newt Gingrich.
