......................................................................
Microwave News, January-February 1987
ZAP!
Six hundred scientists and engineers with security clearances
spend the first week of December at Kirtland Air Force Base in
New Mexico examining the potential of high-power microwaves to
zap enemy electronics...
... Many branches of the Department of Defense were represented,
including the Air Force, the Army and the Navy, together with
DARPA, DIA, and DNA. The Lawrence Livermore Labs were also
well represented, as were most of the big defense contractors -
General Dynamics, Physics International and TRW each have a
high-power microwave testing facility.
In addition to these sources, susceptibility and hardening,
there was one on biological effects: Dr. David Erwin and
Major Robert Downs represented the Air Force and Howard Bassen
and Dr. John D'Andrea described the Army and Navy programs,
respectively. Dr. Frank Barnes of the University of Colorado
in Boulder presented a poster paper on his and Dr. Howard
Wachtel's research on the effects of pulsed microwaves.
Chuck de Caro, a former correspondent for the Cable News Network,
considers the possibility that the U.S. is falling behind the
U.S.S.R. in microwave weapons in "The Zap Gap", to be published
in the March issue of "The Atlantic" (see also MWN November-
December 1986).
......................................................................
Microwave News, January-February 1996
RF WEAPONS - Disabling People and Electronics
The military continues to explore development of RF weapons
for the conflicts of the future. For instance, the "First
Directed Energy Warfare (DEW) Conference", held last year
at the Mitre Corp. in McLean VA, featured Dr. David Erwin
of the Armstrong Lab at Brooks AFB, San Antonio, TX, on
"Directed Energy Warfare RF Effects", and D.r Jose Pina of
the CIA on "Ground Combat Applications of RF". Other topics
included "Personnel Vulnerability" and Directed Energy
Warfare Biological Effects".
-62-