TL; DR: O Disruptor bloqueia todas as comunicações, exceto drones conectados localmente controlados e, aparentemente, comunicadores de navio para navio dentro da esfera do Disruptor.
O livro explica que o Disruptor implantado pelo Dreadnoughts afeta tanto as comunicações quânticas quanto as normais, tornando os drones inúteis.
“The Disrupter appears to function by coupling itself to a large celestial body, like a planet or moon.” On the view screen, an animation showed a spinning chrome dodecahedron making landfall on Earth and then firing a beam of red energy into the planet’s core. “The device then harnesses the planet’s magnetic field, using it to generate a spherical field that disrupts all quantum communications inside it.”
“All of the EDA’s drones have backup radio-control units,” Shin added. “Unfortunately the Disrupter interferes with normal radio communications, too, so they’re useless.”
On the view screen, the emerald green Disrupter began to generate a transparent sphere of red energy that enveloped the entire planet Earth, along with its entire atmosphere— causing the EDA’s drones to fall out of the sky. But the moon was outside of the Disrupter’s range— as was the secret EDA defense base on its far side.
“The quantum-disruption effect only works if the transmitting and receiving ends of a link are both contained inside its spherical field,” the general said. “If either the drone or its operator are located outside of the disruption field, the quantum link is completely unaffected and remains intact. If the enemy manages to couple their Disrupter to the Earth, only the EDA personnel stationed up here on the moon— that’s us— will still be able to control the drones we have stockpiled back on Earth, and vice versa.”
Continua explicando que o Moonbase Alpha ainda é capaz de se defender localmente através de armas de superfície e drones amarrados que não são afetados pelo Disrupter.
Shin nodded. “This base has a backup hard-line intranet,” he said. “So we were still able to defend the base using the surface guns, and with tethered backup drones, which were all hardwired and thus unaffected by the Disrupter.”
Ele não afeta apenas os drones e comunicações quânticas com controle remoto, mas também afeta aeronaves regulares, GPS, satélites e todas as comunicações de rádio.
“What about the conventional air force?” Debbie asked. “Can’t they help?”
“They’ll try,” he said. “But the Disrupter knocks out all wireless and radio communications, too. It alters Earth’s magnetic field and plays havoc with GPS satellites, too. Our conventional aircraft will all be flying blind. And they might as well be going up against Godzilla. Conventional fighters won’t stand a chance. It’s up to us.”