Microwave weapon suspected in mystery attacks on US diplomats: report
Doctors and scientists increasingly suspect attacks with unconventional microwave weapons as the cause of the mysterious ailments that have stricken more than three dozen American diplomats and their families in Cuba and China, The New York Times reported on 2 September.
The victims reported hearing intense high-pitched sounds in their hotel rooms or homes followed by symptoms that included nausea, severe headaches, fatigue, dizziness, sleep problems and hearing loss.
A medical team that examined 21 of those affected in Cuba did not mention microwave weapons as a cause in a study published in March in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
But its lead author, Douglas Smith, the director of the Center for Brain Injury and Repair at the University of Pennsylvania, told the Times that microwave weapons are now considered a main suspect and that the team is increasingly sure the diplomats suffered brain injury.
Smith was quoted as saying: ‘Everybody was relatively skeptical at first and everyone now agrees there's something there.’
Neither the State Department nor the FBI has publicly pointed to microwave weapons as the culprit, and the Times said there were many unanswered questions as to who might have carried out the attacks and why.
After holding Cuba responsible for either carrying out the attacks or failing to protect American officials, the US in September 2017 recalled more than half of its staff from the embassy and expelled 15 Cuban diplomats from Washington.
Cuba has firmly denied any role in, or knowledge of, the incidents.
In June 2018, the State Department announced it had sent home US government personnel from China after they reported eerily similar incidents.
According to the Times, an American scientist, Allan Frey, first discovered in 1960 that the brain can perceive microwaves as sound.
His discovery opened a new field of research that ultimately led both the US and the Soviet Union to explore microwaves' potential use in unconventional weapons.
The Russians dubbed the class of envisioned weapons as psychophysical or psychotronic, according to the Times.
It said the US Defense Intelligence Agency warned in 1976 that Soviet research on microwaves showed potential for ‘disrupting the behaviour patterns of military or diplomatic personnel.’
A National Security Agency statement obtained by Washington lawyer Mark Zaid on behalf of a client described how a foreign power built a weapon ‘designed to bathe a target's living quarters in microwaves, causing numerous physical effects, including a damaged nervous system,’ the Times said.
The US military also researched weapons applications of microwaves, with the air force winning a patent on an invention shown to beam comprehensible speech into an adversary's head, according to the Times.
Navy researchers explored the use of the Frey effect to induce sounds powerful enough to cause painful discomfort, and even immobilize the subject, it said.
The Times said it is not known if Washington deploys such weapons.
More from Land Warfare
-
Israel ramps up Arrow-4 development following Iranian attack
Israel’s Ministry of Defense has fast-tracked the development of the Arrow-4 ballistic missile interceptor in response to recent Iranian ballistic missile attacks.
-
Saab to manufacture Carl-Gustaf M4 near New Delhi as Swedish firm eyes Indian expansion
Saab has planned to build “a streamlined ownership structure” in India to accelerate its investment plans and developing capabilities in the country.
-
Japan orders THeMIS UGVs
Milrem’s Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry System (THeMIS) is a modular, multimission, hybrid UGV. The current fifth-generation model incorporates knowledge gained during tests in the US, Europe and the Middle East, as well as during field-deployment in Mali in the French-led Operation Barkhane.
-
GDELS rolls out Piranha HMC
General Dynamics European Land Systems (GDELS) MOWAG has introduced the Piranha Heavy Mission Carrier (10x10), an enhanced version of its Piranha armoured vehicle series, featuring increased payload capacity and specialised configurations for diverse battlefield roles.
-
NATO orders more 155mm ammunition
The contract, in the triple-digit million euro range, includes high explosive extended range projectiles, modular charges, fuzes and primers.
-
US deploys Mid-Range Capability missile defence system to the Philippines
Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile defence system has leveraged Lockheed Martin’s expertise with two in-service USN systems: the MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) and the Aegis Weapon System.