Background In recent years, the widespread deployment of electronic improvised explosive devices (E-IEDs) has posed severe threats to the public and governments worldwide. Safe and effective neutralization of E-IEDs constitutes a practical challenge confronted by nations in both military operations and non-military missions such as counter-terrorism and emergency response. High power microwave (HPM) features prominent advantages including long effective range, high neutralization efficiency and low operational cost, rendering it an effective approach for safe disposal of E-IEDs. Therefore, investigating the actual effects of HPM on E-IEDs is of great significance.

Purpose This paper investigates the damage effects of narrow band high power microwave (NB-HPM) of different frequency bands on remote controlled simulation devices by combining irradiation experiments and electromagnetic simulation.

Methods Irradiation experiments with NB-HPM covering the L- to X- band were carried out on the remote controlled simulation device. The damage performance and damage thresholds under different NB-HPM bands were explored, and specific failure modes of the device were analyzed. Field-circuit co-simulation was adopted to model the NB-HPM coupling process within the remote controlled simulation device, and internal HPM coupling paths were analyzed.

Results Experimental results demonstrate that HPM frequency is one of the critical factors governing damage performance of the remote controlled simulation device. Among the L-X bands, the L-band delivers the optimal damage effect with the lowest damage threshold. Device failure originates from complete burnout of the internal 8D423TS chip. The internal power network and power management circuit serve as the core heavily-damaged regions; the internal isolation layer and motor drive output stage lose their functions, and the radio-frequency (RF) front-end fails to operate properly due to interference from other modules. Simulation results indicate that cables act as a major energy-coupling pathway. At low HPM frequencies, coupling paths are relatively simple, following the rule that cables with lengths close to odd multiples of half the HPM wavelength tend to receive stronger coupled energy. At high HPM frequencies, coupling paths become complex, and the magnitude of coupled HPM signals gradually decouples from cable length.

Conclusions This paper presents an in-depth study on the damage effects of NB-HPM on the remote controlled simulation device based on irradiation experiments and field-circuit co-simulation. The obtained results can provide data support and technical references for HPM-based neutralization of remote controlled improvised explosive devices.