The non-explosive missile known as CHAMP completed a flight test over the Utah desert, successfully knocking out electronic targets with its high-powered-microwave-emitting payload while causing no collateral damage, announced contractor Boeing. “Today we turned science fiction into science fact,” said Keith Coleman, Boeing’s CHAMP program manager, in the company’s Oct. 22 release. He added, “In the near future, this technology may be used to render an enemy’s electronic and data systems useless even before the first troops or aircraft arrive.” Boeing and the Air Force Research Lab’s directed energy directorate conducted the test on Oct. 16 at the Utah Test and Training Range, according to the company. CHAMP “successfully knocked out” the targets—personal computers and electrical systems—in a two-story building on the test range during the one-hour test, according to a separate company release. Boeing is developing CHAMP, which stands for Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project, under an Office of the Secretary of Defense-sponsored project. (See also Getting to the Point.)
NASA Boss: Race to Moon Has National Security Stakes
Sept. 15, 2026
NASA is pushing hard to get astronauts back to the moon by 2028—and the urgency is driven in no small part by the national security implications of doing so before China does, Administrator Jared Isaacman said Sept. 15.
