Chandigarh, November 7
With electronic warfare and network-centric operations playing an increasingly significant role in today’s battlefield, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing a weapon that renders electronic gadgets useless and effectively neutralises the adversary’s command, control and communication capability.

Commonly referred to as “e-bomb”, the weapon produces a strong electromagnetic field generating powerful electricity surges that can play havoc with electronic circuits within a specified area.

“We have developed and validated the technology and the weapon in its usable form is expected to be complete within the 12th Plan,” Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL) director Dr Manjit Singh said.

“Though this is the biggest weapon of mass destruction next to a nuclear bomb, it has a limited collateral damage as it does not target humans and is designed to hit computer systems and networks,” he said.

The e-bomb, based on Explosive Driven High Energy Pulse Power Technology, can be deployed against non-military establishments like banking and civic utility networks, communication and power generation networks.

It not only disables gadgets and networks but also destroys or damages them, which can seriously affect day-to-day functioning of the society over an extended period of time. The bomb can also be used against mobile enemy command and control centres or advancing formations to render them “blind” by disrupting communication.

The basic principle of the weapon, according to APS Sodhi, a senior scientist working on the programme, is converting the explosive’s chemical power into electrical power. “Detonation of 1 kg of the designed explosive mixture can produce about 4.5 megaJoule of electricity energy,” he said. The explosive is a mixture of RDX and TNT.

Initially, DRDO’s e-bomb is being designed for delivery by combat aircraft and later, as technology is matured and the warhead made more compact, it would be integrated with missiles.