Explosive radiation

Americans are working to create an emitter that makes the detonators of all mines and bombs in the surrounding area work.

In recent years, reports of the development of a highly secret United States weapons, which causes the automatic operation of the fuses of improvised mines and bombs - the main culprits of the death of American soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. The project was named NIRF (Neutralizing Improvised Explosive Devices with Radio Frequency, “Neutralization of improvised explosive devices using radio waves”).

Apparently, such a tool would be really useful in the fight against extremists, but it seems that its wide use is still far away. First, while such installations are not reliable enough in the field. Secondly, it is impossible to predict the consequences: no one is immune from the fact that the included weapon will cause a detonation of the ammunition at the moment when there is a group of some civilians near it.

By the way, today almost any Hummer of the American army operating in Iraq and Afghanistan is equipped with a radio frequency silencer of a remote control system with an explosive mechanism. They really turned out to be helpful. And in 2005 and 2008. The installations causing a detonation of radio-controlled ammunition, passed field tests. Then their sizes were unacceptable - each of them required a powerful tractor with a trailer.

And judging by recent reports, today, still in an atmosphere of strict secrecy, work continues to be done to reduce and improve these devices. One of the major Pentagon officials, General James Mattis, dreams of installing them even on airplanes: “This is an offensive tool that will change the face of the whole war,” he writes.

At what stage the work is today is unclear. On tests in 2005, the generator created a radiation that destroyed its own electronics. But, as far as we know, in the planned milestone 2008, the NIRF project was not only not curtailed, but also received additional funding. Let's wait how it will end.