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North Korea missile: US ready to use microwave superweapon

IT’S a superweapon capable of frying the electronics of Kim Jong-un’s nuclear missile arsenal, and the US is ready to use it.

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THE United States military is ready to launch microwave rockets that can fry the circuits of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.

CHAMP missiles can be fired from B-52 bombers from 1126km away to disable Kim Jong-un’s nukes as they sit on the launch pad, The Sun reported.

The hi-tech weapons have been hailed as an effective nonlethal way of averting mass casualties if Mr Kim pushes the button.

The CHAMP rockets are ready to be deployed to stave off the threat of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. Picture: Screengrab/NBC News
The CHAMP rockets are ready to be deployed to stave off the threat of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. Picture: Screengrab/NBC News

They are taking centre stage in White House discussions over the US response to the growing threat from the rogue regime as it steps up its firepower, according to NBC News.

North Korea has developed rockets capable of delivering nuclear warheads anywhere on the US mainland — sparking fears that war on the Korean peninsula is imminent.

CHAMPs, which stands for Counter-electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project, were first developed by Boeing and the US air force in 2009 and were ready for operational tests three years later.

The missiles harness the power of HMP high power microwave technology to destroy an enemy’s weapons capabilities.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile prior to its launch last week. Picture: KCNA/AP
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile prior to its launch last week. Picture: KCNA/AP

Senator Martin Heinrich, a former air force engineer, told the broadcaster: “Think about when you put something in your microwave that has metal on it.

“You know how badly that goes? Imagine directing those microwaves at someone’s electronics.”

Secret tests have taken place since its first and only declassified rehearsal in 2012.

Mary Lou Robinson, head of weapons development at the Air Force Research Laboratory, said: “It absolutely did exactly what we thought it was going to do.”

She added that now after further development “there is no doubt” the weapons could work.

The report comes as massive joint US-South Korea military drills began this week — which North Korea dubbed a “provocation”.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and has been republished here with permission..

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/north-korea-missile-us-ready-to-use-microwave-superweapon/news-story/17834152ebc2b0d15ee3867273d5a80c