China Deploys ‘Hurricane 3000’ Microwave Weapon for Operational Counter-Drone Warfare.

China publicly unveiled the Hurricane 3000 high-power microwave weapon during a nationally televised military parade in January 2025, marking a rare display of a directed-energy system designed to counter drone swarms. The move highlights Beijing’s growing focus on low-cost, high-volume air defense solutions as unmanned threats reshape modern warfare.

China has publicly revealed a new vehicle-mounted high-power microwave weapon, the Hurricane 3000, during a nationally broadcast military parade in January 2026, according to footage aired by Chinese state television. The system’s appearance marks one of the few times the People’s Liberation Army has openly displayed a directed-energy weapon, signaling that China now views counter-drone microwave systems as a mature and operational part of its air defense architecture rather than an experimental capability.
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The vehicle-mounted Hurricane 3000 high-power microwave weapon disables and destroys drone swarms at ranges of up to 3 km by overwhelming onboard electronics, giving the PLA a rapid and cost-effective response to mass unmanned aerial threats on modern battlefields (Picture source: Social Media).

The Hurricane 3000 is assessed to be a vehicle-mounted high-power microwave system capable of emitting focused electromagnetic energy to disrupt, disable, or permanently damage the electronic components of hostile drones within a reported range of up to three kilometers. Unlike kinetic air defense weapons or missile-based interceptors, the system relies on intense microwave pulses to overload flight control systems, sensors, navigation modules, and onboard data links. The weapon is believed to generate rapid bursts rather than a continuous beam, allowing it to engage multiple targets in quick succession and making it particularly effective against coordinated drone swarms.

The system appears to integrate a large directional emitter mounted on a stabilized platform, supported by a dedicated power generation and cooling subsystem housed within the vehicle. Analysts estimate that the Hurricane 3000 operates in the high-gigahertz frequency range, optimized to exploit vulnerabilities in commercial and military-grade electronics. The absence of visible interceptors or radar-guided launchers suggests that the system is cued by external sensors or integrated into a broader air defense network, enabling it to receive target data from radars, electro-optical sensors, or command vehicles.

Operationally, the Hurricane 3000 offers significant tactical advantages on battlefields increasingly saturated with low-cost drones used for reconnaissance, targeting, and precision strike. Conventional air defense systems struggle to economically counter swarms of small unmanned aircraft, where the cost exchange ratio heavily favors the attacker. A microwave weapon reverses this dynamic by allowing repeated engagements at minimal per-shot cost, limited primarily by fuel and maintenance. The system also reduces logistical strain by eliminating the need for interceptor resupply during prolonged operations.

From a tactical perspective, the Hurricane 3000 could be deployed to protect critical assets such as command posts, air defense nodes, logistics hubs, and maneuver units during high-intensity operations. Its ability to neutralize drones without producing debris or secondary explosions is particularly valuable in dense operational environments, including urban areas or around friendly forces. However, its line-of-sight limitations and susceptibility to terrain masking suggest it would be most effective when layered with traditional air defense systems.

The development of the Hurricane 3000 appears to be the culmination of more than a decade of Chinese research into directed-energy weapons. Chinese defense research institutes have previously published academic papers on high-power microwave generators, compact power systems, and electromagnetic hardening. While Beijing has not disclosed formal testing timelines, the system’s public debut implies that it has likely undergone extensive field trials and integration exercises within PLA ground and possibly naval units.

When compared to Western counterparts, the Hurricane 3000 occupies a similar conceptual space to the US-developed THOR system and the US Army’s IFPC-HPM prototype, both designed to counter drone swarms using microwave energy. Unlike many Western systems still in experimental or limited deployment phases, China’s decision to parade the Hurricane 3000 suggests a higher level of confidence in its readiness for operational use. Western programs, however, often emphasize modular integration with existing command and control architectures, an area where China’s system capabilities remain less transparent.

In the context of a potential naval invasion of Taiwan, the Hurricane 3000 would offer the PLA a critical tool for suppressing Taiwanese and allied drone reconnaissance and strike capabilities. Deployed with amphibious assault units, coastal defense forces, or aboard large landing ships, the system could help create localized air denial bubbles against swarms of surveillance drones and loitering munitions. This would reduce the effectiveness of Taiwan’s situational awareness and targeting during the early phases of an amphibious operation, enhancing the survivability of Chinese forces crossing the Taiwan Strait.