I reposted David Schriner's statement before congress

Statement of Mr. David Schriner before the Joint Economic Committee 

Statement of 

Mr. David Schriner 

before the 

Joint Economic Committee 

United States Congress 

Wednesday, February 25, 1998 

"The Design and Fabrication of a Damage 

Inflicting RF Weapon by 'Back Yard' Methods" 

      Note, this paper reflects the personal views and opinion of the author. The material in this paper has 

been deemed unclassified by those who hold his security clearances but it does not specifically represent 

their views. This paper is a very brief statement on the subject and it is written from a non-technical 

point of view to provide an easy look at the subject manner by non-professional people or groups. 

Further elaboration on any point can be requested in either a technical format or at a classified level with 

the proper security restrictions in place. 

      For many years research activities in different countries have focused on the use of radio frequency 

(RF) waves as a weapon. Most of this work has been titled or described under the title of High Powered 

Microwave (HPM). Worldwide, large amounts of money have been invested in this technology to 

support both the military interests but also the industrial heating needs. Like most technologies, with 

maturity the applications increase and the costs to use it become lower. One primary point of this paper 

is that as these technologies mature they also become affordable and usable by criminals and terrorists. 

Most military programs are classified and the general public knows little concerning their nature but as 

the technology becomes available to criminals and terrorists, it may be directly applied to the 

infrastructure elements of our society. This paper addresses the question concerning the possibility of 

certain types of this technology being used against the society. 

      The primary focus of this paper will be on a different and new form of HPM called Transient 

Electromagnetic Devices (TED) that could, in the hands of enemies, criminals, pranksters, or terrorists 

pose a significant threat to much of the United States infrastructure components that are based on micro- 

circuits and computer or micro-processor control. This includes financial institutions, aircraft, security, 

medical, automotive, and other critical equipment used everyday in our society. The systems necessary 

http://www.house.gov/jec/hearings/radio/schriner.htm (1 of 7)2/23/2007 8:44:14 AM