Boeing, Air Force demonstrate missile

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HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- A missile using bursts of energy instead of explosives to degrade or destroy electronic targets has been successfully tested by Boeing and the U.S. Air Force.

The experimental missile is called the Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project weapon. It provides the capability for selective high-frequency radio wave strikes against numerous targets during a single mission. Additional details of the weapon weren't disclosed.

"This technology marks a new era in modern-day warfare," said Keith Coleman, CHAMP program manager for Boeing Phantom Works. "In the near future, this technology may be used to render an enemy's electronic and data systems useless even before the first troops or aircraft arrive."

The flight test was conducted over the Utah Test and Training Range. In the test, the weapon navigated a pre-programmed flight plan and emitted bursts of high-powered energy to effectively knock out the target's data and electronic subsystems.

Additional technology demonstrations -- both in flight and on the ground -- will be conducted over a "multiyear" period by Boeing and the Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.