Paralyzes missiles and causes internal bleeding: behind Trump’s “doomsday weapon”.

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US President Donald Trump dropped hints about the system, which he called Discombobulator (“the confusing one”): “I’m not allowed to talk about it… They had Russian and Chinese missiles, and they couldn’t launch anything. They pushed buttons, and nothing worked.” The CBS network later estimated that these were systems used by the US Air Force that use powerful microwaves to disrupt electronic systems.

These days, about 8,000 infantry soldiers are being sent to Iran. Will the new system be the card that will also decide the invasion of the ground forces in the USA?

Powerful microwaves

In a column written in February by Washington Post journalist David Ignatius, at least two experiments conducted in the past in the US to test weapons or defenses based on microwave waves were mentioned – with effects similar to those published in the attack in Venezuela.

In 2017, the US Air Force published an experiment with a rocket carrying a powerful microwave system called CHAMP, which may cause widespread power outages, “similar to what happened in Caracas in January,” Ignatius wrote. A more advanced weapon introduced by the US military in 2023 included HiJENKS, a system that uses microwaves to “disable computer systems, target electronics, and disrupt security and control systems.”

Half a year before the operation in Venezuela, Dr. Yehoshua Kalisky, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), wrote an article entitled “Weapon based on microwaves”, which reviews systems developed in the US, Russia and China and sheds light on their advantages on the battlefield. “This microwave beam is not much different from the home microwave,” Kalisky tells Globes. “If it’s aimed at an electronic system, it will burn the electrical circuits and sensitive components in it. It’s like putting a laptop in the microwave.”

On the battlefield, the electromagnetic beam is transmitted at high intensities that can even reach up to one gigawatt. It penetrates through the antennas, air vents or telephone lines into the electronic systems in the military installations – radar, communications and even missile launchers – and melts the electronic circuits in them. At low intensities the system is temporarily disabled and high intensities will destroy it.

The physical damage is significant

The additional effect of the microwave may explain the reports in Venezuela of headaches and bleeding. “These physiological effects have been known since World War II,” says Kalisky. “This is why the home microwave device is sealed, and stops working when the door is opened. A low-power microwave beam can cause burns, but at high intensities it can damage the nervous system and blood vessels, cause loss of vision, hearing problems, headaches, burns, vomiting and even paralysis. It can penetrate through rigid shields and cause damage even to people hiding in protected buildings or armored vehicles.”

The human effect was not first discovered in Venezuela. Already in 2016, American diplomats and military personnel in embassies around the world complained about a jarring noise, after which they were attacked by nausea, headaches, dizziness and loss of balance – what was defined in the media as the “Havana syndrome”.

An investigation by CBS and Der Spiegel revealed that it was a secret intelligence unit of the Russian military that used a non-lethal acoustic weapon based on microwaves, despite denials by American intelligence agencies. Similar symptoms were experienced by American diplomats in Zhongzhou, China.

Kalisky names at least two systems developed in the US that have documentation regarding their physiological effect. The first is MEDUSA, developed by the Waveband company funded by the US Navy – and it is based on the use of low-power microwaves in order to produce a sound sensation in the brain, this is to prevent entry into protected and prohibited areas. The second system is ADS, developed by the US Air Force and heats the skin in order to control a crowd of rioters. The system is mobile, has an operating range of hundreds of meters with Ability to penetrate through glass or clothing – but not through buildings.

However, these are heavy installations that require large generators to produce high power intensities. For this purpose, the armies are required to assemble the systems on a cannon or on a ship. The lower powers also allow them to be mounted on an aircraft.

If this is a technology that has been known to science for almost a century, why was it only now “discovered”? “The military’s line of thinking focused on shells and missiles, and less on energy,” says Kalisky. “Today we understand that this beam affects the speed of light. One device can shoot down several drones at the same time, when it has certain advantages over the laser.”