Gregory's ServerSeveral megawatt output on a mobile base is pushing things a bit far, I think. OK, there are 35MW transportable (as several loads) gas-turbine units, and Diesels in the 1 - 9MW range, but none of them can be considered "mobile", and the jammer itself will be no lightweight (and require a large and complicated antenna system), making it an excellent target.
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@cstross @Cadbury_Moose @graydon unless the jammers become very sophisticated they will be a short lived resource. High power emissions would be a very bright targeting beacon for a drone/missile to home in on with as simple logic as if control is disrupted move to strongest signal and detonate. If close enough, direction finding: target coordinates direct to counterbattery centre and the jammer (or at least: its antenna system) would be pounded flat in minutes. (Toward the end of WW1 the German artillery were forbidden from firing singly due to the efficiency of allied Sound Ranging - fire would be returned before the German shell had landed. This was with _manual_ systems!) See also: https://royalsignals.org.uk/articles/SRS/srs.html Plus (the unfortunately late) Alister's masterpiece: https://royalsignals.org.uk/articles/SRS/Location.pdf Conversion efficiency into RF is not going to be great, and that's without considering the need for frequency agility and target identification. ECM (these days ESM and ECCM) really _is_ a four letter word. 3:O)> |
@Cadbury_Moose @graydon 1MW = 1340 horsepower, well within reach of today's supercar gas engines (c. 250kg). Add a Tesla sized battery and circuitry for recharging it off the gas engine and you've got 1MW sustained, with bursts to much higher power levels, in something that'll fit in the back of an HMMWV.