Navy looks to H6 Systems to develop microwave weapon simulator for aircraft research
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 19 May 2015. U.S. Navy aircraft researchers needed the ability to simulate a high-power microwave weapon to measure its effects on U.S. military aircraft. They found their solution from H6 Systems Inc. in Nashua, N.H.
Officials of the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced their intention to award an approximate $2.2 million contract to H6 Systems this month to develop a Narrow Band High Power Microwave Simulator (NBHPMS) to test military aircraft when the planes are exposed to a narrow-band enemy high-power microwave weapon.
Navy officials say they plan to award the microwave weapon simulator contract to H6 Systems sole-source because the company is the only responsible source of the high-power microwave simulator to help evaluate the effects of directed-energy weapons.
H6 Systems engineers will develop a NBHPMS that can cover all frequencies necessary to simulate actual foreign high-power microwave weapons. Company engineers will build the simulator so it can operate continuously with adjustable outpower, and the ability to be aimed within minutes without the need for heavy machiner, Navy officials say.
H6 Systems has demonstrated the narrow-band high power microwave pulse widths with a proprietary high-voltage pedestal pulse modulator at the company's own expense, Navy officials say. A Navy search of industry for similar technologies turned up nothing acceptable, officials say.
High-power microwave weapons are being developed to steer a narrow beam of high energy that can overwhelm and destroy sensitive electronics systems, subsystems, and components. Its effects are similar to those of electro-magnetic pulse (EMP), yet can be steered and controlled.
The upcoming Navy contract to H6 Systems will be for about two years. For more information contact H6 Systems online at http://h6systems.com, or the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at www.navair.navy.mil/nawcad.
>
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.