HPM@SU-AI@sri-unix.UUCP (08/13/83)
From: Hans Moravec <HPM@SU-AI>
a209 1110 12 Aug 83
TODAY'S FOCUS: Increasing Research On Microwave Beam Weapons
By BARTON REPPERT
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States is quietly stepping up research
on microwave beam weapons, which some American specialists say could
pose a significant arms-proliferation problem in the future.
According to Pentagon officials, scientists at military laboratories
and defense experts on Capitol Hill, the U.S. effort has been spurred
partly by concern over an apparent Soviet lead in several areas of
high-power microwave technology.
Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger alluded briefly to
microwave warfare in a detailed ''Soviet Military Power'' report
released last spring.
Weinberger warned that signs of ''Soviet interest in radio-frequency
technologies, particularly the capability to develop very high
peak-power microwave generators, indicate that the Soviets intend to
develop such a weapon.''
Since President Reagan's March 23 speech calling for development of
a defensive shield against nuclear missile attack, attention has
focused largely on possible use of visible-light lasers, particle
beams and exotic X-ray laser systems.
But several microwave specialists say it is already a more
''mature'' technology and may be more quickly utilized in
directed-energy weapons.
Microwave weapons are being considered for short-range tactical use
against planes, cruise missiles and infantry forces as well as
strategic defense.
The microwave frequency spectrum is being used in radar, television,
long-distance telephone lines, satellite communications, microwave
ovens, medical therapy and various manufacturing processes.
At high power levels, microwave radiation can burn out electronic
components of weapon systems. People exposed to such a beam can suffer
cataracts, third-degree skin burns, severe internal injuries,
unconsciousness or death.
A report issued early this year by the Congressional Clearinghouse
on the Future expressed concern over the arms-control implications of
offensive microwave weapons, which it said could pack ''great
destructive power.''
''Since these weapons might be easier to develop than nuclear arms,
microwave devices could eventually be used by a large number of
nations if the technology is not controlled,'' said the report, based
on data compiled by House committees.
John M. Bachkosky, a research and engineering official at the
Pentagon, said in a recent interview that the development of
high-power microwave weapons involved fewer technological hurdles than
either high-energy lasers or particle beams.
''From a hardware standpoint, we are probably much further along in
the area of microwave weaponry - or those components that could be
used to make up a microwave weapon - than in the other two areas,'' he
said.
U.S. research efforts in the microwave area, Bachkosky said, are
aimed largely at studying the vulnerability of various electronic
components and weapon systems to high-intensity microwave bombardment.
Bachkosky and other defense officials declined to give a dollar
figure on research, but said the microwave program still comprised
only a small fraction of the overall beam weapons budget, totaling
about $480 million for fiscal 1984.
However, the effort represents a substanial growth from the 1970s,
officials said.
Lt. Col. Richard L. Gullickson of the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency noted that ''high-power microwave isn't really all
Buck Rogers-type weapons.''
He cited examples including secure tactical communications systems,
imaging radars able to precisely identify spacecraft in high orbit
and special low tracking-angle radars to spot sea-skimming cruise
missiles.
Gullickson said military commanders tend to be skeptical about the
value of microwave weapons because the beams would be more likely to
cause a ''soft kill'' - disabling of electronics - rather than
immediate destruction, as with an explosive warhead.
Military facilities involved in high-power microwave research
include Harry Diamond Laboratories, a unit of the Army's Electronics
Research and Development Command; the Naval Research Laboratory, in
Washington; the Naval Surface Weapons Center, Dahlgren, Va.; and the
Air Force Weapons Laboratory, at Kirtland Air Force Base near
Albuquerque, N.M.
At Harry Diamond Laboratories, whose main complex is located in
Adelphi, Md., scientists said they are working with magnetrons and
other microwave-generating devices powered by very high-energy
relativistic electron beams.
''You're really at the forefront of science and technology here and
you have to struggle your way along, from day to day,'' physicist
Edward A. Brown said in a recent interview. But he added: ''We're
definitely making progress.''
Brown said the laboratory was attempting to push microwave
technology ''considerably beyond'' the megawatt-level power outputs
obtainable with conventional radar equipment.
Asked about the prospects for developing a tactical microwave weapon
system that can actually be deployed by the Army, Brown replied
cautiously: ''We're in the realm of the possible. We're not in the
realm of the probable, yet.''
ap-ny-08-12 1411EDT
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