Russia discloses new details of electromagnetic pulse cannon

Russian defense industry sources have disclosed the new details of the electromagnetic pulse cannon capable of hitting targets 6 miles away.

The new super cannon will be able to shoot down aircraft and aerial drones by an electromagnetic pulse.

“The trials of EMP weapons have been under way since 2015. The latest firing of EMP cannons took place this spring. At present, the average range of EMP cannons against aerial targets is 7-8 km, with the maximum of 10 km,” one of the sources said, adding that the range of such weapons was previously estimated at 1-2 km.

TASS News Agency also said that “airborne targets can be destroyed at the distance of 10 km, because their on-board equipment burns down.” According to the source, an electromagnetic pulse lasts a fraction of a second and reaches the target almost immediately, travelling with the speed of light.

During trials, electromagnetic pulse cannons were used to destroy various equipment on the ground and were also efficient against unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). They also said that the main problem of such weaponry is that it needs lots of energy to strike, and, therefore, creating a mobile EMP system is hardly possible in the near future.

The sources said that EMP weaponry should be distinguished from radioelectronic warfare systems. While radioelectronic warfare systems can jam electronics at a distance of several hundred kilometers, they are way less powerful and do not knock out the equipment. EMP cannons, on the contrary, physically destroy electronics beyond repair.