"Without realistic testing, we can only introduce changes in the components or designs of existing weapons at the risk of further degrading confidence they will work."
This guy's logic is seriously flawed. If he believes our weaponry advances are limited by a lack of testing, why does he believe the Iranian or NK weapons will work? Neither country has tested even a rudimentary device, while we know our earlier designs worked, including the very first, and very well, I might add (cf, Hiroshima, Nagasaki). The Iranins and NKs do not have Edward Teller working for them, either. Moreover, I fail to see how an EMF attack by a single warhead, even 400 miles above the US, could reach every circuit and electronic component in the US. Ous systems are designed with backups, redundancy, as NASA terms it, so it is unlikely we could be put into an 18th-Century state.
This kind of writing is scare-mongering that builds up the enemy and tears down the US.
Let's keep in mind the overall history of North Korea's nuclear program. They have been researching since the 1950's. Yongbyon has been around since the early 1960's, it was originaly built by the Soviets. North Korea also tested nuclear weapons triggers in the late 1980's. It is entirely conceivable that the North Koreans have a working device by now, they certainly have all the materials that they need. Keep in mind they've been hiding their activities from the IAEA since 1985.
"This guy's logic is seriously flawed. If he believes our weaponry advances are limited by a lack of testing, why does he believe the Iranian or NK weapons will work? Neither country has tested even a rudimentary device, while we know our earlier designs worked, including the very first, and very well, I might add (cf, Hiroshima, Nagasaki). The Iranins and NKs do not have Edward Teller working for them, either. Moreover, I fail to see how an EMF attack by a single warhead, even 400 miles above the US, could reach every circuit and electronic component in the US. Ous systems are designed with backups, redundancy, as NASA terms it, so it is unlikely we could be put into an 18th-Century state.
This kind of writing is scare-mongering that builds up the enemy and tears down the US."
Exactly. I remember doing a ton of reading on nuclear weapons in the early 1990's. That was when the Soviets still had a massive arsenal of 20 Megaton "City Busters". Even the biggest and baddest did not emit EMP burst beyond a few square miles so this guy is definately out of his tree. Detonating them even 5 miles up would be completely negligable as far as EMP effects are concerned. The blast and radiation would be a seperate matter, but if somehow Iran or North Korea did launch a missle like this from their country or a "ship", their society would cease to exist and they know it.
I am not concerned that we do not spend enough money in testing our trillian of dollar nuclear ballistic missle program. I am concerned that we are still way to lax on our borders and testing shipping coming into the country.
EMP testing and regime change in North Korea or Iran should be seperate articles...
Sorry, but you are absolutely, ignorantly wrong. Fortunately, ignorance can be cured with education. First, the physics.
It is an absolutely confirmed fact that the high altitude H-Bomb test in the South Pacific caused an Electro-Magnetic Pulse which in turn caused electric outages and destruction of electronic equipment in Hawaii - hundreds of miles away. (And that was before we had electronic ignition and computerized control of automobiles, or digital phone switches, or millions of devices controlled by computer chips.) When this happened, it took the Physicists by surprise, and a major effort was required to describe the phenomena involved. A good summary of what they found is contained at http://jya.com/emp02.htm which describes the physics, and what is required to protect electronic equipment from such pulses.
The extrapolation of that kind of attack was described accurately, with attributions, in the book "Warday: And its Journey Onward", which can be obtained from Amazon. A review of this book at Amazon reads, in part:
On October 27, 1988, the United States and the Soviet Union fight a "limited" nuclear war. Washington, DC, and San Antonio are vaporized. New York City is left in ruins. Electromagnetic pulses wipe out computers and electronic car ignitions. Radiation sickness is followed by famine and a flu epidemic. Five years after Warday, two writers tour what was the United States to assemble this documentary of life after the war, weaving together interviews, government documents, and the chronicle of their travels.
This is a truly frightening book about a truly frightening phenomenon. And it is for this reason that we should rationally fear any rogue regime with nukes.