In an interview President Trump gave to The Washington Post last week, he revealed that during the operation in Venezuela the United States used a new secret weapon he called “The Discombobulator.” According to him and various accounts, this weapon disabled the Chinese and Russian radars and missile systems in the possession of Venezuela’s armed forces, preventing them from striking American forces. The weapon Trump referred to matches the characteristics of a conventional electromagnetic bomb based on electromagnetic pulses (EMP). Such bombs have destructive potential against electronic systems, including communications systems, control systems, computers, power grids, and water and sewage infrastructure—potentially paralyzing security, economic, and health systems. Weapons based on electromagnetic bombs have advantages stemming from their ability to operate at the speed of light, simplicity of operation, broad target coverage, and the ability to function in any environment and weather conditions.
Trump discussed the weapon in the context of reports published recently, according to which the Biden administration covertly acquired additional electromagnetic weaponry, apparently based on microwave waves, similar to what is suspected to have been used by Russia and to have caused a series of symptoms known as “Havana Syndrome.” These symptoms, reported by hundreds of American diplomats and military personnel around the world, first appeared in 2016 among staff at the U.S. embassy in Havana. According to reports, they heard a piercing noise and then experienced nausea, headaches, dizziness, insomnia, and loss of balance.
Similar symptoms were also described in field testimonies following the American operation in Venezuela. The accounts described a powerful sound wave that caused Maduro’s men to collapse to the ground, unable to move, while experiencing severe physical symptoms. In this context, it is worth noting that in the past the United States attempted to develop a similar weapon as part of the MEDUSA project, and in 2004 WaveBand Corporation, funded by the U.S. Navy, presented a prototype system based on low-power microwaves that creates a sound sensation in the brain, which may cause severe discomfort and even temporary paralysis.
The use of electromagnetic weapons from the U.S. arsenal has significant potential value in a future campaign against rogue states. The use of microwave-based weapons for crowd control could assist special operations through “soft” damage to infrastructure and combatants. American use of conventional electromagnetic bombs could disrupt and cause significant damage to combat arrays in any future conflict, including strikes on ballistic missile systems and missile launchers, UAVs, fighter aircraft, warships, and tanks. In addition, electromagnetic bombs can target command-and-control rooms and disrupt coordination between and within military bodies in enemy states, and can further deepen damage to infrastructure used to produce non-conventional weapons.
In an interview President Trump gave to The Washington Post last week, he revealed that during the operation in Venezuela the United States used a new secret weapon he called “The Discombobulator.” According to him and various accounts, this weapon disabled the Chinese and Russian radars and missile systems in the possession of Venezuela’s armed forces, preventing them from striking American forces. The weapon Trump referred to matches the characteristics of a conventional electromagnetic bomb based on electromagnetic pulses (EMP). Such bombs have destructive potential against electronic systems, including communications systems, control systems, computers, power grids, and water and sewage infrastructure—potentially paralyzing security, economic, and health systems. Weapons based on electromagnetic bombs have advantages stemming from their ability to operate at the speed of light, simplicity of operation, broad target coverage, and the ability to function in any environment and weather conditions.
Trump discussed the weapon in the context of reports published recently, according to which the Biden administration covertly acquired additional electromagnetic weaponry, apparently based on microwave waves, similar to what is suspected to have been used by Russia and to have caused a series of symptoms known as “Havana Syndrome.” These symptoms, reported by hundreds of American diplomats and military personnel around the world, first appeared in 2016 among staff at the U.S. embassy in Havana. According to reports, they heard a piercing noise and then experienced nausea, headaches, dizziness, insomnia, and loss of balance.
Similar symptoms were also described in field testimonies following the American operation in Venezuela. The accounts described a powerful sound wave that caused Maduro’s men to collapse to the ground, unable to move, while experiencing severe physical symptoms. In this context, it is worth noting that in the past the United States attempted to develop a similar weapon as part of the MEDUSA project, and in 2004 WaveBand Corporation, funded by the U.S. Navy, presented a prototype system based on low-power microwaves that creates a sound sensation in the brain, which may cause severe discomfort and even temporary paralysis.
The use of electromagnetic weapons from the U.S. arsenal has significant potential value in a future campaign against rogue states. The use of microwave-based weapons for crowd control could assist special operations through “soft” damage to infrastructure and combatants. American use of conventional electromagnetic bombs could disrupt and cause significant damage to combat arrays in any future conflict, including strikes on ballistic missile systems and missile launchers, UAVs, fighter aircraft, warships, and tanks. In addition, electromagnetic bombs can target command-and-control rooms and disrupt coordination between and within military bodies in enemy states, and can further deepen damage to infrastructure used to produce non-conventional weapons.