Replies

"A nuclear device, in the stratosphere (30 miles), at the altitude achieved by a simple weather balloon, could create a EMP pulse with a radius of 480 miles. Basically the entire eastern seaboard could be crippled (for years) by an Iranian nuclear device delivered even somewhat close to what this guy is talking about. All he needs is a crude missile delivery system or an East wind"

So many errors, so little time:

1. Weather balloons usually don't have lift capacity in excess of a ton. Even advanced Nuclear warheads weigh well over a ton and the early Fat Man/Little Boy bombs weighed around 5 tons.

2. Balloons don't get to the altitudes necessary for an EMP to be generated which are well above the stratosphere.

3. Balloons aren't accurate - heck, they don't go anywhere near their intended targets. Remember the great Japanese balloon bomb scare of the '40s? Less than 1% of all the thousands launched made it to the US. And nearly all the East oast prevailing winds are westerly.

No offense, Bud but you should do a little more study on the subject before hitting the "End of the world" button.

1) Are you claiming that it is impossible to construct a high-altitude balloon capable of carrying a nuclear device? Did I throw you off by using the term "weather balloon"? I was implying that a low-tech delivery system might be sufficient for a nuclear attack.

2) Are you implying that an EMP pulse cannot be generated at ground level. That's impossible? How about a 5 miles? 10 miles? I picked a 30 mile altitude for an EMP attack because the wikipedia article on EMPs has a diagram showing the blast radius for an EMP pulse at 30 miles. If you want to make the claim that no balloon can reach 30 miles, that's fine with me. I would claim that an EMP pulse at 10 miles up would also be a bad thing.

3) Balloons aren't accurate? At 30 miles, the radius of effect is 480 miles. Lower level? Back to a balloon at 10 miles? Fine. I dont think accuracy counts. We're still looking at a radius of over 100 miles. Pinpoint accuracy is not required.

Let's cut to the point I was making: If Iran makes a nuclear deice, all they need is a low tech delivery system to devastate major US coastal areas. Do you disagree with this basic premise?

You screwed up on #1, so stopped there.

“The W68 weighs 367 pounds (166 kg). The warhead’s dimensions are not publicly known, however to fit the maximum load of 14 within the roughly 65-inch-diameter (1,700 mm) Poseidon payload fairing,”

A ton, uh huh.

2. Balloons don't get to the altitudes necessary for an EMP to be generated which are well above the stratosphere.

That may be correct for nuclear devices but EMP generators have been demonstrated at ground level using conventional explosives, magnets, and copper wire. EMP is phenomenon not limited to nuclear devices.

Respects,
GtG