High Tech Weapons on the Horizon
A technology that has been in the works for several years may bring the stuff of science fiction into reality in the possible impending military action against Iraq. While technology has made weapons smarter than ever before, there is a new weapon, one that is not aimed at people but against technology itself.
This new category of firepower is known as directed-energy weaponry. 
These systems are targeted at electronics and designed to disrupt or destroy the digital devices that control the communications that are crucial for modern military forces. Modern society and its military organizations have a strong dependence on electronic communication and information systems. The disruption of these channels of communication can result in chaos.
The technology that has been developed emulates the damage that was seen following nuclear explosions but in a more controlled way and without the radioactivity and physical destruction. The electromagnetic energy is focused on disrupting the operation of microchips.
Much of the research in directed-energy weapons in the US is being done at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque.
Sources:
NY Times
Directed Energy Directorate Website
11:33:06 PM 
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