In The Matrix, all of Zion’s hovercraft carried devices capable of producing electromagnetic pulses. One blast was enough to disable any electrically-powered device within its blast radius, thus killing the feared Sentinels, the bad guys if you want. In the famous science fiction film written and directed by the Wachowski brothers, the EMP weapon was one of the most efficient means of defense against the machines used by the Resistance. They did have one problem: the EMP was affecting people too.
Why are we talking about a science fiction series from the 2000s? Because it’s happening in real life, folks! Instead of a dystopian future in which reality, as perceived by most humans, is actually a simulated reality called “the Matrix,” we’re talking about the real world of the 21st century.
You may have heard these days about the Air Force admitting they have a futuristic drone that is capable of accurately beaming electromagnetic pulses that shut down everything from computers to the desk lamps in a building. Before we talk about whether or not that is true, we need to take a step back in the past and travel to 2012.
It was tree years ago when Boeing announced that a first successful test has been conducted. Boeing and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) have been working for years now on this project, and it was 2012 when they first proved the technology works. What technology, you ask? The Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project (CHAMP); that technology.
Suddenly, creating that backup for your PC sounds like a good idea
In a couple of words, it’s a drone that carries a weapon capable of rendering electronic targets useless, a non-kinetic alternative to traditional explosive weapons that use the energy of motion to defeat a target.
“During the test, the CHAMP missile navigated a pre-programmed flight plan and emitted bursts of high-powered energy, effectively knocking out the target’s data and electronic subsystems. CHAMP allows for selective high-frequency radio wave strikes against numerous targets during a single mission,” Boeing explained back in 2012.
Naturally, this ground-breaking technology was designed to be used by the military. But ever since that announcement, there was no word on the program. Until now, that is. According to The Motley Fool, Air Force Research Laboratory commander Maj. Gen. Tom Masiello says that CHAMP is “an operations system already in our tactical air force.”
Take the blue pill, Neo.
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