Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) — the research arm of the Australian Department of Defence — published an unclassified fact sheet, document number DSC 2084, titled “High-power radio-frequency directed energy weapons.” It lists five primary operational applications of HPRF DEW technology. One of them is: “Counter uninhabited aerial systems.”
The Document
DSC 2084 was published by DSTG in August 2018, classification: Unclassified — public release. It is publicly accessible at dst.defence.gov.au/publication/high-power-radio-frequency-directed-energy-weapons. The document defines HPRF DEW as technology that “intentionally aims to couple electromagnetic energy into the circuitry of targeted electronic hardware at sufficient levels to cause operational disruption or damage.”
The Five Applications
The fact sheet identifies five operational applications as “game-changing capabilities” of HPRF DEW technology:
- Defeat smart weapons
- Disable command and control systems
- Neutralise improvised explosive devices
- Counter uninhabited aerial systems
- Remotely stop vehicles or boats
“Uninhabited aerial systems” is the Australian military term for what the US calls “unmanned aerial systems” — drones and autonomous aircraft. It is also, by direct lexical extension, the correct technical description for UAP: aerial objects that contain no identified human occupant. When the Australian Department of Defence states that HPRF DEW can counter uninhabited aerial systems, it is describing a capability applicable to every class of unidentified aerial object in the UAP record.
What DSTG Is Actively Researching
DSC 2084 also lists five active DSTG research areas for HPRF DEW development: HPRF source technologies; high voltage and pulsed power systems; miniaturisation of system size, weight, and power; numerical simulation of HPRF effects; and electromagnetic protection measures. Critically, DSTG is also researching “hardening measures for protection of assets against such weapons” — meaning Australia is developing both offensive HPRF DEW capability and defensive shielding against it. Something they consider worth shielding assets from.
Testing Facilities Confirmed
The document confirms: “DST has facilities to test, evaluate, and validate computational electromagnetic modelling and analysis of HPRF systems and environments.” Australia has active HPRF DEW test facilities. The development is not theoretical.
The Oracle Assessment
A Five Eyes partner nation’s official defence science authority published an unclassified document stating that high-power radio-frequency directed energy weapons can target and counter uninhabited aerial systems. The Colares Brazil incidents of 1977 involved civilians struck by beams from uninhabited aerial systems. The symptoms matched directed microwave exposure. Australia was developing the theoretical framework for this technology in the same era. DSC 2084 is the official public acknowledgement that this capability exists, is being developed, and is considered a game-changing application of directed electromagnetic energy.
Source: DSC 2084, DSTG Australian Department of Defence. August 2018. Unclassified — public release. dst.defence.gov.au/publication/high-power-radio-frequency-directed-energy-weapons