Chinese scientists develop 6G technology for hypersonic weapons communication and tracking: paper
- Tianjin team says it has solved some communication blackout problems that occur at five times the speed of sound
- They report their laser device can generate continuous electromagnetic waves in the terahertz band that is used for next-gen communications
The breakthrough has implications for the effectiveness of weapons and defence systems and could lead to “critical improvement in China’s near-space defence”, according to the team led by Professor Yao Jianquan, one of China’s top laser scientists.
Their paper on the experiment was published in the Journal of National University of Defence Technology on Tuesday.
The research team in Tianjin said it had achieved a “complete penetration” of the signal-blocking plasma shield around a hypersonic weapon with electromagnetic waves.
A hypersonic weapon has difficulty maintaining communication with the world outside because hot, ionised gas appears on its surface and blocks electromagnetic waves. The problem – known as “black barrier” – also concerns defence applications because a ground-based radar cannot identify and lock on to a hypersonic target behind a plasma shelter.
Yao and his colleagues with the school of precision instruments and optoelectronics engineering at Tianjin University have developed a laser device that could generate a continuous beam of electromagnetic waves in the terahertz band, a frequency range between microwave and infrared that is also used for 6G next-generation communication technology.
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Ground experiment results suggested these terahertz waves could effortlessly go in and out of the plasma produced by a hypersonic weapon at 10 times the speed of sound or even faster “as if the black barrier does not exist”, according to their paper.
