Russian scientists
develop high-energy pulse generators
Date: Sat, 12 May 2007 19:25:20 +0100 From: Rowan
Berkeley <rowan.berkeley@googlemail.com>
From radio telescopes to electromagnetic weapons
Yury Zaitsev, RIA Novosti, 11/ 05/ 2007
Yuri Zaitsev is an academic adviser at the Academy of
Engineering Sciences. http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20070511/65348455.html
A group of Russian scientists from Tomsk, Yekaterinburg,
Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow have developed a series of
unique compact generators capable of producing
high-energy pulses of hundreds and even thousands of
megawatts. This compares with the capacity of a major
Soviet hydropower station on the Dnieper or an energy
unit at a modern nuclear power plant. The new generators
are sources of electromagnetic radiation rather than
electricity. Their main feature is a capacity to produce
enormous power in a matter of nanoseconds. The impulses
can be generated with a very high frequency.
Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS)
Gennady Mesyats recalled that the first high-current
electron accelerators were developed in the U.S.S.R. in
the 1960s. Ten years later, Soviet scientists learnt to
generate powerful microwave nanosecond pulses. The
current generators have no counterparts in the world. In
effect, Russian scientists have made a breakthrough in
what is called relativist high-precision electronics.
The pulse is primarily of interest for fundamental
research. Reporting these results to the RAS Presidium at
the beginning of this year, scientists emphasized that
sources with super radiation effects can be broadly used
in long-range high-resolution impulse-based radiolocation
and in studies of non-thermal impact of powerful
electromagnetic fields on radio electronic components and
different biological species. Super-powerful pulse
generators can test the reliability of radio electronic
devices and the immunity of energy facilities to
different impacts. They can imitate the interference
caused by a lightning and even by a nuclear blast. Their
tiny size and unique physical properties make their
sphere of application extremely wide.
The electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a product of a nuclear
explosion. It puts out of action even those electronic
control systems that have withstood the shockwave and
reduces expensive smart weapons to scrap metal. There are
different ways of generating electromagnetic pulses - for
example, it can be produced by explosion-induced pressure
on a magnetic field. Physicist Andrei Sakharov was the
first to propose using this principle in a bomb in the
1950s. Today, records in the size of an induced magnetic
field, maximum current and properties of such
"radiators" belong to Russian scientists. They
surpass foreign counterparts by 10 times. Depending on
what facilities the EMP is directed at, the damage radius
can be from several hundred meters to kilometers. Without
creating a shock wave and inflicting visible damage, it
destroys all enemy electronic equipment. Moreover, unlike
electronic countermeasures, electromagnetic weapons are
capable of damaging radio electronic components even if
they are switched off.
At present, the infrastructure and troops of many
countries are stuffed with electronic equipment. It will
be the main target for electromagnetic weapons. The
destructive effect is produced by the high acceleration
of the magnetic and electrical components of the EMP.
They induce voltage changes ranging from 100 volts to
10,000 volts in circuit networks and terminals of radio
electronic equipment. The ensuing massive sparking of
cable jackets, their contact to frame and the ground, and
breakdowns in connectors put the equipment out of action
and lead to fires and explosions. To understand this
effect better, it is enough to imagine what will happen
to your TV-set if there is a power surge - it will simply
melt. The Americans were the first to use such weapons in
combat, for instance in Yugoslavia. Some analysts believe
that electromagnetic bombs would have given the United
States a vital advantage in the early stages of the war
in Iraq. They could have disabled not only Baghdad's
control and communications systems, but also electronic
components of missiles, even those located in deep
bunkers. But the U.S. command chose not to use
electromagnetic bombs for fear that they might disrupt
its own radio electronic equipment in the area.
Today, many countries have electromagnetic weapons.
Military experts predict a victory in future wars to
those who will be ahead in electromagnetic radiation. In
many cases, not only the military-industrial complexes
but also different civilian organizations, research
institutes and universities conduct studies in this
field, thereby increasing the threat of radio electronic
terrorism. For example, a broadband high-energy and
compact wave source is sold without any restrictions. In
several fractions of a second, it can burn down all
electronic equipment at an electric power station,
substation or control tower. A short intensive pulse can
instantly paralyze data bases, financial centers and
industrial equipment.
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