Boeing has won a $38m contract to design and test a non-lethal, high-power microwave (HPM) aerial demonstrator for the US Air Force’s counter-electronics high-power microwave advanced missile project (CHAMP).
The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) compact microwave technology will be used in combination with air vehicle design and manufacturing expertise.
Boeing Phantom Works’s CHAMP programme manager Keith Coleman said the technology should limit civilian casualties.
“It will offer a system allowing the military to neutralise specific targets while minimising or eliminating collateral damage,” Coleman said.
The CHAMP joint capability technology demonstration (JCTD) programme will operate the demonstrator for the first time and the three-year programme will include both ground and flight demos aimed at integrating technology and military utility.
While Boeing will provide the airborne platform, Albuquerque-based Ktech will supply the HPM source. Sandia National Laboratories will offer the pulse power system for the programme.
