[iwar] FW: Britain Develops Shell To Disable Electronics


From: St. Clair, James
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Wed, 27 Dec 2000 08:26:41 -0800


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Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 08:26:41 -0800
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Subject: [iwar] FW: Britain Develops Shell To Disable Electronics
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Britain Develops Shell To Disable Electronics

By Michael Smith
London Daily Telegraph
December 27, 2000

A NON-LETHAL artillery shell designed to disable all the enemy's electronic
equipment without killing anybody has been developed at a secret site in
south-west England.

The shell was designed following revelations that Russia was well ahead of
the West in the development of so-called radio-frequency weapons. A paper
given at a conference in Bordeaux in 1994 made it clear that the Russians
believed it possible to use such weapons to disable all of an enemy's
electronic equipment.

Written by Dr A B Prishchipenko and entitled Radio Frequency Weapons on the
Future Battlefield, it described Soviet research dating back to the late
Forties, provoking near panic among western military planners. It gave
credence to the nightmare scenario of a high-technology war in which all the
radio, radar and computer systems on which their weapons depended would be
disabled leaving them completely defenceless.

Then two years ago, it emerged that the Russians had developed an
electro-magnetic device, a so-called E Bomb, capable of disabling electrical
and electronic systems and which could be carried in a briefcase. Amid
intelligence reports showing that the IRA had discussed the possibility of
closing down the City of London with an E Bomb, British research into the
technology was stepped up.

Matra BAe Dynamics set to work on producing a western version, as well as a
means of countering the Russian weapon, in its Novel Technology section. It
has now persuaded the MoD that the weapon is feasible. As a result of "a
highly successful demonstration", the team won the BAe Systems Chairman's
Gold Award for 2000. 

The announcement of the award made no mention of the type of weapon other
than to say that it offered "a new capability for exerting force or the fear
of force, a completely new war fighting capability to coerce and disable an
adversary without inflicting lethal force". At the same time, the MoD
published a summary of requirements for "Radio Frequency Munitions delivered
by 155mm shell or rocket" as a possible future requirement, the first step
in the procurement process.

The shell or rocket will follow the normal trajectory of a standard missile
but contain only a few grammes of explosive used to open it up as it
approaches the target. An array of aerials then spring out and a burst of
radio frequency of less than a second's duration is transmitted, disabling
all electronic equipment within a given range.

The weapon will allow commanders to disrupt completely the enemy's command
and control systems. Computers on weapons, tanks and aircraft will crash and
radios and radar systems will become useless. The weapon will also bring the
civil structure to a standstill, causing national telephone, television and
radio networks to go down and electrical grids to collapse. 

Used properly, the weapon can be deployed even in areas of concentrated
population without risk of civilian deaths. This makes it particularly
useful where the enemy is deliberately concealing its military assets in
civilian areas. The system is low cost and can be deployed rapidly and
without warning, making it very difficult to counter.

One senior military officer said it was possible the new weapon might lead
to the situation where an enemy could be conquered without fighting. "If you
can take out the civilian economic infrastructure of a nation, then that
nation, in addition to not being able to function internally, cannot deploy
its military by air or sea, or supply them with any real effectiveness, if
at all."

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