Experts cite electromagnetic pulse as terrorist threat

Associated Press / Las Vegas Review-Journal ^ | October , 2001

[Yankee]

The Chief Weapons officer on the Starship Enterprise reports five Phasers are missing.

Arabic looking suspects apparently beamed aboard, wearing phony Vulcan ears, and wearing stolen uniforms.

The head of the Intergallactic Nations cautioned that we must not profile all pointy-eared individuals. He said that the Agency is preparing all appropriate resolutions to express their dissapointment with these individuals.

[spaceman spiff]

The HEMP threat from a weapon of the size a terrorist could build and deploy is hugely overrated.

Trust me.

[gnarledmaw]

The EMP threat from a airburst doesnt travel through the lines, the energy travels through the air. It will still fry your electronics, including the brain in any car made after 82 or there 'bouts.

[Restorer]

And airport security was considered very high prior to 9/11.

By WHOM?

I've flown almost weekly for the last two years and was always surprised by how sloppy secutiry was. It was very annoying, just not very effective against a determined attacker.

For instance, a large number of airports had (have?) gates very close to the security checkpoint. What is to stop an armed attacker from shooting his way on board, as in The Matrix?

[gnarledmaw]

The homemade protections that Ive read about generally suggest that a protective box must have a layer of nonconductive material to work so an item could be protected if it was in a box that was metal/wood/metal where the external layer does not wrap over the lips to touch the internal layer. If there is a wire or antenna sticking out then the protective value is lost.

[SpinyNorman]

Would putting your computer in a Faraday cage be of any effect?

I think that the chances of getting a bomb to explode at high altitude is considerably more difficult and detectable than the typical Ryder truck. Besides, there is more terror to be generated from a downtown explosion than a bunch of non functioning computers, particularly if all important data is backed up on CD daily.

You have to thank Bill Gates and his amazing crashing Windows "operating" system for that (will the black screen of terrorism now supercede the blue screen of death?)!

[boris]

Just a side note: John Pike is an ignoramus and a quack.

I believe he has no degree from any institution higher than High School.

He used to be the mouthpiece for the "Federation" of "American" "Scientists" but it looks like he found a new gig. Look for his bio on the FAS site--try to find his educational credentials.

I once e-mailed him noting the absence of such credentials and requesting his background; I received nothing.

Pike once stated in an interview that the Apollo I disaster was "an explosion." As usual, he was wrong. There was no explosion on Apollo I--only a fire caused by a spark and a 100% oxygen environment.

--Boris

[Eala]

Agreed that this article is misleading. And VERY ill-informed:

Congress was warned that detonating a relatively small, 10-kiloton nuclear bomb over the U.S. would produce a burst of energy equal to 10,000 tons of TNT.

Well, duhhh. OF COURSE a 10-kiloton bomb produces "a burst of energy" equal to 10,000 tons of TNT! It's also equal to 20 MILLION POUNDS of TNT!!

The ignorance of AP writers never ceases to amaze me. They must have gone to publik skewl to lern there traid.

[It'salmosttolate]

Zhirinovsky Threatens US with (Tesla?) Wonder Weapons

[GOPaul]

Popular Mechanix had a feature story on this weapon on their website last month. It may still be there. They said this weapon could be built for as little as $400 dollars. Check it out.

[justlurking]

Would putting your computer in a Faraday cage be of any effect?

Only if every connection to the outside world was also properly shielded.

[BJungNan]

I don't get it... incinerated by a nuclear attack and I am supposed to worry if my computer is still running?

[StriperSniper]

The HEMP threat

Is this a new angle on the WOsD?

[StriperSniper]

Congress was warned that detonating a relatively small, 10-kiloton nuclear bomb over the U.S. would produce a burst of energy equal to 10,000 tons of TNT.

By definition, no?

[eniapmot]

...Congress was warned that a relatively small, 10-kiloton nuclear bomb, which would produce energy equal to exploding 10,000 tons of TNT...

And they believed him. (But only because he was an "expert witness")

[eniapmot]

The correct link to ebomb article

[XNavyNuc]

The *problem* with EMP is the unpredictability of system response. As one who has studied and worked with equipment to try to ensure that *Systems* would remain operable after significant EMP incidents I can only offer the following: The magnitude of EMP *attacks* can only be adjudged by an estimation of prevailing technology(s) and their most likely employment. This means (but does not exclude alternative scenarios) that assumptions MUST be made concerning most probable, worst-case, initiating attacks. Well, if one reviews the "most probable" delivery mechanisms and if one puts them into a *terrorist* perspective then one must conclude that to get the most *bang* for the buck a terrorist would almost certainly strike where the most people would be *DIRECTLY* affected. Therefore, I would say that we should be *FAR MORE* worried about large population gatherings (football stadiums and the like) than some more *esoteric* and unpredictable attacks on our solid-state *infrastructure*. It takes far more overall planning to achieve *success* in this "EMP" world than (I assume) terrorists would be willing to attempt. I believe that they are far more "down to earth" (Read that as crude and completely uncaring) and hope that CNN will work as their force amplifier. Of course, I could be wrong.

[Barry Goldwater]

If the rise time is so fast wouldn't atmospheric propagation limit the frequency content of the pulse (also the relaxation time of that cold plasma - the ionosphere)? The pulse itself isn't so bad, it's the large sheet current generated in the ionosphere (if the bomb is detonated above ground) that does the damage. Field strength of about 10 kV/m 1,000 miles from ground zero! A tin foil hat for me please!