(I’m so not a military type. I have only taken an interest because of my bible studies and my conscience bothers me tremendously that I’m so fascinated with all this military stuff. I’ve discovered that I’m complicated. ;-) )
*ALL* nuclear weapons detonated in an atmosphere generate an EMP.
Re: The weapon you’re talking about that the media went bonkers about a while back: You can build a nuke to go off way up in the air (a type of “air burst” munition) that is designed to *maximize* the EMP it generates. This nuke wouldn’t cause much, if any, surface destruction or loss of life, but it would fry most civilian electronics and cause a lot of pain in that regard.
The MOAB hasn’t been sold or lent to any of our allies that we know of; additionally, it’s so bloody big that you can’t carry it on a fighter or bomber - you have to carry it on a slow, lumbering cargo transport aircraft. It’s unlikely that Israel would risk one of their transports in Syria.
Yes, sort of. Every nuke generates an EMP, they can be designed to enhance the pulse, and that's the new one you heard about.
Would they have used that type of weapon on a nuclear weapons target?
No.
I didnt think it would destroy buildings or leave a hole.
It's still an explosion, just more of the energy is converted to the EMP.
Surely, they would have used the MOAB or whatever the bunker buster is called.
Makes sense to me!
(Im so not a military type. I have only taken an interest because of my bible studies and my conscience bothers me tremendously that Im so fascinated with all this military stuff. Ive discovered that Im complicated. ;-) )
Not to worry, the Bible is full of military exploits. Indeed, a Biblical description of a battle enabled British troops to out flank and defeat an enemy in modern times.
Also some of the descriptions of battle in the Book of Revelation, which BTW, were impossible to understand for nearly two millenia, are scary accurate descriptions of modern tactics and weapons effects.
Here is a link to a Discovery Channel show, “Future Weapons” about EMP. There is a video of the show’s experiment with EMP on the right side of the page.
http://dsc.discovery.com/search/results.html?query=electromagnetic%20pulse