Boeing and the Air Force Research Lab earlier this year successfully completed the first flight test of the CHAMP missile, a new high-powered microwave weapon, at the Utah Test and Training Range, according to prime contractor Boeing. “It was as close to the real thing as we could get for this test,” said Keith Coleman, Boeing’s CHAMP program manager in the company’s Sept. 22 release. “This demonstration,” he continued, “sets the stage for a new breed of nonlethal, but highly effective weapon systems.” More tests are scheduled for later this year. CHAMP stands for Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project. The missile is designed to neutralize electronic targets with its HPM payload while minimizing or eliminating the collateral damage that kinetic weapons may cause. Boeing won a three-year, $38 million contract in April 2009 to develop CHAMP under an Office of the Secretary of Defense-sponsored demonstration.
Active-Duty Airmen only have a few days left to submit an official waist-to-height ratio into the Air Force’s new online application. But the service clarified July 23 that this first body composition measurement is not meant to be scored as part of the new Physical Fitness Readiness Assessment, or PFRA