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Chinese scientists developed a powerful new microwave weapon that combines electromagnetic waves with ultra-precise timing technologies to increase power output when attacking a specific target.
The weapon system, which has already been experimentally tested for military use, is said to consist of several vehicles emitting microwaves from different locations and able to combine their microwaves into a powerful energy beam that can attack a single target.
This approach is reminiscent of the idea of the "Death Star" from the "Star Wars" movies, where a huge space station combines eight laser beams into one to destroy a planet, but the implementation of this idea turned out to be difficult, because electromagnetic waves from different platforms must reach one point in one and the same moment of time and in the same form to achieve an effective combination of forces.
According to the research team's calculations, the vehicles should be deployed with a positional error down to just a few millimeters, and a time synchronization error of no more than 170 picoseconds — more accurate than the atomic clocks on GPS satellites.
Scientists and engineers overcame these difficulties and created a system of seven vehicles in western China, and experiments confirmed that the device can effectively suppress signals from US GPS and other satellites, "achieving many purposes such as training, testing new technologies and military exercises." .
The researchers connected the synchronization devices on the transmission platforms with optical fibers to achieve "ultra-precise time synchronization".
