Raytheon has successfully completed field testing of its powerful CHIMERA microwave weapon. During tests, CHIMERA applied directed energy to different types of targets and demonstrated fire control by attacking and escorting air targets.

The CHIMERA system, a powerful microwave long-range target protection system, is designed to engage multiple targets at medium and long range. Since it is a land-based system, it has more power than other HPM systems and has the capacity to respond to air threats at the speed of light.

During CHIMERA testing, the system was used to fire directed energy at multiple targets. The system has proven its ability to engage medium and long-range targets using energy traveling at the speed of light. The tests were also designed to prove the capabilities of the system’s integrated fire control, including detecting and tracking targets until they are destroyed.

“Robust microwave systems are cost-effective and reliable solutions that play a key role in multi-layered defenses, increasing the depth of defeat and giving warfighters greater opportunities to quickly defeat the enemy,” said Colin Whelan, president of Raytheon’s Advanced Technologies Division. “CHIMERA’s successful trial is a testament to our commitment to developing non-kinetic solutions that can counter increasingly complex threats.”

CHIMERA is part of the Directed Energy Frontline Electromagnetic Neutralization and Defeat (DEFEND) program, a collaborative effort to design, build and test HPM systems for forward deployment. Source