FYI,

"Air Force Looks at New Microwave Weapon"
Associated Press
http://news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041005/ap_on_sc/microwave_weapons_1

: The Air Force expects planes will be able to fire non-lethal
: microwave rays at enemy ground troops with the help of a new
: superconducting generator system developed at Wright-Patterson Air
: Force Base after about 25 years of research.

: The Air Force is preparing to award a $22 million contract to a
: private contractor to construct and demonstrate the new electrical
: generating system by 2009.

: "We finally have the materials where we're ready to build this
: generator," Lt. Col. JoAnn Erno, chief of the power division of Air
: Force Research Laboratory's Propulsion Directorate, said Monday.

: Microwaves — high-powered electromagnetic beams that can rapidly
: heat water molecules — and other directed-energy weapons could
: bring advantages to the battlefield in places like Iraq and
: Afghanistan, where U.S. troops have had to deal with hostile but
: unarmed crowds as well as dangerous insurgents.

: Aside from paralyzing potential attackers or noncombatants like a
: long-range stun gun, the weapons could disable the electronics of
: missiles and roadside bombs or even disable a vehicle in a high-
: speed chase, developers say. The weapons emit a pulse of energy and
: can destroy semiconductors with a surge of volts.

: Powered by a turbine engine, the new generators are about the size
: of a small beer keg and designed to produce five megawatts of
: power.

: The generators have lightweight metal foils coated with
: superconducting material that carry many times more current and are
: more efficient, making possible an electric power system strong
: enough for microwave weapons and light enough for airplanes.

: Erno said the system would probably be used on cargo planes such as
: C-130s. With a superconducting generator, the system will weigh
: about half of its current 20,000 pounds, which is the equivalent of
: about eight Toyota Corollas.

Mark Reiff