The U.S. Military Wants A Better Microwave Weapon. Will The Police Also Use It?

The U.S. military wants a more powerful non-lethal microwave weapon to knock out the engines of cars and boats.

This device could also be used by U.S. law enforcement agencies, including Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), according to the Pentagon.

The goal of the Broadband Counter-Electronics Weapon project is to “develop a more compact and lightweight long-range counter-electronic vehicle/vessel stopping system to support long range non-lethal vehicle/vessel stopping missions,” according to the Navy research announcement.

The Pentagon’s Joint Intermediate Force Capabilities Office has already developed a microwave weapon – the Radio Frequency Vehicle Stopper – for disabling vehicles and ships. The device works by using high-powered microwave (HPM) pulses that knock out the engine’s electronic control unit, causing the engine to stall. Rather than firing bullets into a car or boat engine – and risk killing the occupants – these radio-frequency weapons are a non-lethal way to stop vehicles from crashing through checkpoints, or boats that refuse to stop and be boarded.

It’s not clear whether the Radio Frequency Vehicle Stopper has already been deployed. “The Coast Guard does not employ Radio Frequency Vessel Stoppers during law enforcement or other operations,” the U.S. Coast Guard told me, while the Navy could not confirm any deployments at press time.

What is clear that the military isn’t satisfied with current technology. Existing radio-frequency vehicle stoppers “have known range and overall system size and weight limitations,” said the Navy, which wants a device that is smaller, lighter, requires less power and cooling, and is cheaper to manufacture.

Current HPM vehicle-stoppers are bigger than 160 cubic feet, weigh 1,000 pounds and cost about $1 million, according to the Navy. The new BCEW system should be around 3 cubic feet, weigh just 50 to 100 pounds, and cost only $50,000 to $100,000.

The new weapon may initially have a range of just a few hundred meters, but the eventual goal is a device that can disable vehicles and ship engines at a range of 3 to 5 kilometers (1.9 to 3.1 miles). Technical requirements include developing a wideband HPM weapon that operates in the 100 MHz to 2 GHz) range, emits pulses with widths of 1 nanosecond to 200 nanoseconds, and has pulse repetition frequencies of a few pulses per second to 100 kHz.

Phase I calls for assessing how effective a wideband HPM weapon would be against “currently available commercial vehicle and vessel engines,” and whether it meets the needs of all the military services. Phase II would involve testing a prototype.

But Phase III may prove more controversial. Not only would the weapon be cleared for deployment to the military, but also to law enforcement agencies who have been looking for more portable vehicle and ship stoppers.

“A compact - lightweight long range RF-HPM vehicle/vessel stopping capability has significant commercial applications beyond the DoD,” the Navy said. “Other government agencies, such as the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to include Customs and Border Patrol, have actively been researching these types of non-lethal counter-electronic effects. Local civilian law enforcement has these type of missions to support both vehicle/vessel interdiction missions as well as to mitigate vehicle/vessel-borne terrorism. Currently overall system size, weight, and cost have hindered the use of these systems by these agencies.”

Giving armies an effective non-lethal option for stopping vehicles and boats makes sense. In conflicts around the world, a combination of nervous drivers navigating checkpoints – and nervous soldiers manning checkpoints – can have deadly and politically incendiary outcomes. However, non-lethal isn’t the same as un-lethal: disabling a vehicle’s electronic braking systems, for example, could have unfortunate consequences.

Given allegations that American police are too quick to use deadly force, a non-lethal device that can disable a fleeing suspect’s vehicle or boat should be welcome. At the same time, microwave weapons have been used by hostile nations against U.S. government personnel, with hundreds of victims reporting debilitating health effects. If the U.S. military’s microwave weapons are adopted for police use, and criminal suspects claim their health has been affected, the outcome could be controversial.

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