Reports On Nonkinetic Weapons Mixed

Aviation Week and Space Technology ^ | 11/11/2009 | David A. Fulghum/Douglas Barrie

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

The report card is mixed regarding next-generation nonkinetic, or limited effects, weaponry ­developed by the U.S. and its allies.

Cyber-warfare turns on three critical aspects--attack, defense and assessment. Information-technology industry officials say attack capabilities are receiving attention and funding. Defenses against cyber-attack have begun attracting support because of persistent adversaries who flourish in the Wild West atmosphere of the Russian and Chinese cyber-worlds.

The big shortfall, they agree, is in battle damage assessment (BDA).

"I'm trying to render an enemy system nonfunctional with a nonkinetic attack," says John Osterholz, BAE Systems vice president for integrated cyber-warfare and cyber-security. "How do I know when I've succeeded? It still looks like it could kill me. So, the issue at the tactical level is BDA."

"The [weapons, sensor and communications] capabilities of every major nation-state have been digitized," he says. "[For countering that flexibility] the weapons of choice are viruses, worms and Trojans--weapons that work in the Internet protocol [IP] regime."

In the famous "Suter" series of electronic attack experiments at Nellis AFB, Nev., a data stream was fired into an integrated air defense network's antennas by an EC-130 Compass Call electronic attack aircraft. An RC-135W Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft monitored changes in the network's emissions. But that kind of insight is rare.

"We celebrate individual successes like Suter, but we really need to be focused on fuller integration into warfighting to the point that I have cyber-fires, just like I have kinetic fires," Osterholz says. "That is the real frontier that we have to address effectively."

The nonkinetic technologies that still require major investments "relate to how we couple intelligence analysis on a near, real-time or run-time basis in the battlespace," he says.

[wastedyears]

Last I remember, every single weapon that exists relies on kinetic energy to move a projectile from Point A to Point B.

I’m not even sober enough to read this, but just the title of the article sounds like it defies physics to me.

[Moose Burger]

Do you know that certain missiles are connected to a wire so they can be guided with no risk of jamming, right? Same principle. A mega-jammer could be enough to crash something that depends on communications to stay in course.

[Felis_irritable]

I’m not even sober enough to read this, but just the title of the article sounds like it defies physics to me.

Here you go - it's on page 2:

Nonkinetic weapons include high-power microwaves, high-power lasers, electronic attack and cyber-warfare," ... "These are primarily digital things that don't blow up. It is easy to shut off communications for 30 min. while an airborne strike package flies by. If they want to bring down the comms and computers for several days, they could use HPM and fry everything, and the enemy has to bring in replacements. You can fry optics with a laser...

[ASA Vet]

MI Ping

[Right Wing Assault]

Last I remember, every single weapon that exists relies on kinetic energy

Electromagnetic radiation.

[RebelTex]

Thanks for the ping.

This is cool stuff when our side has it, but not so cool for our fly-by-wire guys if the enemy has it.

[wastedyears]

TOW missile launcher, I think the Javelin too.

[jagusafr]

Just spent 2 days in the SCIF hearing about some of the new stuff. Pretty amazing things being done by our cyberwarriors, nothing at the unclas’d level. But cool.

Colonel, USAFR