Tin Pak & Yu-cheng Chen
The PRC broke new ground in its high-powered microwave (HPM) technology this past year. At the Zhuhai Air Show in November 2024—a biennial expo that is a major platform for showcasing advances in the aerospace industry–the PLA showcased at least three novel HPM ground-based weapons. These reportedly included the newly designed anti-drone Hurricane 2000 and Hurricane 3000 model HPMs (Foreign Military Studies Office, February 26). The third HPM system was the FK-4000, an anti-drone platform capable of precision single-point attacks and intercepting drone swarms, according to its designer, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) (CASC, November 12, 2024). These new weapon systems build upon rapid improvements in HPM industrial-programming software and the development of mobile-platform HPM systems.
The growing investment in HPM technology underscores the People Liberation Army’s (PLA) strategic emphasis on asymmetric capabilities. As an asymmetric weapon capable of quickly disabling an adversary’s electronic systems, HPMs target the central nodes that hold technologically advanced militaries together, making them a critical weapon in future conflicts. The PLA’s pursuit of HPM capabilities aligns with its broader strategic objectives and contributes to its vision of informatized and intelligentized warfare.
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