Boeing’s CHAMP can knock out your computer
May 27, 2015, 8:20 AM | Updated: 9:45 am
Boeing has not released any photos of the CHAMP missile, but its online video for the project roughly describes how it works. (Photo: Boeing.com)
(Photo: Boeing.com)
It’s no longer science fiction.
Missiles capable of using a pulse to knock out the enemy’s electronics have become a reality and Boeing is right in the middle of it.
The Air Force raised more than a few eyeballs recently when it announced that Boeing’s CHAMP electronic warfare project is “an operational system already in our tactical air force.”
That means it’s no longer on the drawing board, but available for use in the field.
CHAMP stands for “Counter-Electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project.”
How does it work?
A missile is fitted with a generator that can emit enough microwave bursts to fry electronics on the ground below, but unlike an Electromagnetic Pulse, which would knock out an entire area, CHAMP can target specific buildings and knock out its systems, and even attack certain systems over others.
One analyst calls it an “EMP assassin.” It won’t knock out civilian infrastructure in the name of knocking out an enemy’s defense system.
The last we heard from CHAMP, it was performing a successful test over the Utah desert in 2012.
“We hit every target we wanted to, we prosecuted every one,” said Project Manager Keith Coleman said in 2012. “Today we made science fiction, science fact.”
But now, it’s developed beyond science fact. It’s now an operational system for the U.S. military, according to Air Force Research Laboratory commander Major General Tom Masiello.
