Donald Trump wanted to use it against Venezuela

While this may sound like a spy movie set during the Cold War, the truth is that intelligence agencies hold their trump cards in all things secret weapons. One of the largest representatives in the world is the American CIA, the equivalent of the CNI in Spain, with undisclosed systems capable of even knock out an oil tanker without a trace.

The public appearance of this mysterious system is due to an article published in Wired Or details its use, at least, between 2018 and 2020. These years, with Donald Trump in the White House, were marked by several diplomatic crises with Venezuela and, indirectly, with Cuba since Caracas was its main oil supplier.

The report describes a series of efforts by the United States government and its allies to try to topple Maduro during this period. The execution of computer attacks against the Venezuelan army’s payroll system is also detailed. raids to sabotage Sukhoi Su-30 fighters of the country’s air force, among others.

But what is most striking about the operations to wear down Maduro is the tool used by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. The media are talking about “a mobile system that could disable ships covertly and non-violently”.

“Those responsible for The Trump administration wanted the agency to move the system near Venezuelato attack some of their oil research,” they point out. The CIA rejected the proposal, citing the fact that “they only had one of these systems, which at that time was in another hemisphere and that They didn’t want to move it to the far north of South America. »

The Langley (Virginia) headquarters therefore closed the case, without specifying the location – beyond “another hemisphere” – where the weapon was located. No further details are known about him. and, in fact, this is the first time that there has been public evidence of anything of these characteristics.

invisible weapons

One of the points that What stands out most is that it is a “non-violent” weapon.something that eliminates in one fell swoop certain systems like lasers which, although the beam is invisible, its effects on the material it impacts are obvious. According to TWZone candidate could be a very high-energy microwave transmitter with never-before-seen range.

Some U.S. defense contractors have been working on emissions-emitting systems for years. Microwaves specially developed to bring down swarms of drones quickly and at very low cost. This type of radiation, when directed at a target, can destroy the entire electronic system.

“HPM (High-Power Microwave) Weapons”create invisible rays of electromagnetic energy in a specific spectrum of radio and microwave frequencies that can cause various temporary or permanent effects on electronic targets”, as explained in a press release issued in 2023 by the US Air Force and the Navy.

Examples, they continue, include non-kinetic deactivation – without using projectiles, for example – damage to specific electronic devices, tampering with security or industrial control systems. “The electromagnetic energy of an HPM weapon can be coupled to an electronic target directly via a transmitting or receiving element (such as an antenna), or indirectly, via an aperture or cable entry point.”

The operation involves the creation of currents and voltages in the target circuits. “What results erroneous signals, blocking and system failure and physical damage. »

The United States has used, as far as is officially known, at least once an HPM system. It was in 2022, when during Navy exercises at the China Lake Test Center, they demonstrated this capability.

One of the points most discussed by analysts is the need to execute the attack too close to the target so that it has the desired effect on the electronics. In this way and since it is a “mobile weapon”, it is assumed that it could be integrated aboard unmanned aircraft or even nuclear submarines. This latter platform has some advantages such as a continuous and practically inexhaustible energy supply thanks to the on-board reactor.

Concerning the damage that can be caused, a civilian ship has some delicate systems such as radars, probes, navigation, geolocation and even the entire engine control section today is full of electronics. Destroying one of them amounts to putting the boat out of action without its crew really realizing that it has been the target of an attack.

Frying drones in the microwave

Among the public programs that the Pentagon carries out with microwave technology to take down aerial threats The Leonidas expeditionary system from the Epirus company stands out. This technology was developed under a €4.95 million contract awarded by the US Navy’s Office of Naval Research, the Joint Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office and the US Marine Corps Combat Laboratory. American.

It is “the latest derivation of the Leonidas HPM suite of systems and uses a revolutionary approach” […] which significantly reduces the size and weight of the system” compared to the original model, they specify in the same note. These features allow its integration on board light tactical vehicles while giving the operator better control.

However, “a unique feature in the field of high power microwaves is that we can have progressive effects“, he continued. “In HPM, we can have various effects on the target, ranging from jamming to physical destruction of electrical systems.”

It is therefore a technological approach very different from other weapon systems because, on many occasions, “no external physical effects are observed during a confrontation”. Instead, the “results are almost instantaneous.” Under the Navy’s approach, the use of microwaves is a “desirable alternative to firing a kinetic weapon,” such as another interceptor drone, missile or conventional munitions.

One of the most striking features of This type of weapon is that it offers a very low cost per shot compared to conventional ammunition. To put things into perspective, an interceptor missile can cost thousands of dollars each, while directed energy systems – like microwaves or lasers – cost just pennies. According to Epirus, the cost of each Leonidas shot is 0.45 euros.