CIA Warns of Chinese Plans for Cyber-Attacks on U.S.

lol, where is the evidence this weapon would work in space? and the testing on this over a several mile geographic area is missing also.

Hopefully it's burried in a very secure section of the E-Ring at the Pentagon.

while the theory is plausible, the actual data (proof) isn't there, especially in space.

I for one am kind of glad that the data isn't there. It doesn't require a Werner VonBraun to put a crude version of one of these things together. The Chinese have plenty of resources to study and develope this without having to swipe a hard drive or file cabinet at the Department of Energy. The size of the device could be increased or several smaller units could be launched simultaneously to cover a larger area(Thank you Loral and Bill Clinton for helping them out with our MIRV technology). While you say that there is no proof that it will work in space, there is also no proof that it won't. Given the resources that China has at it's disposal, I don't think that it's too much of a streatch for them to scale up the design or increase the yeild. Keep in mind that the Chinese military puts a great deal of emphasis on asymetric warfare. EMP weapons can level a playing field in a big hurry when fighting an adversary that is dependant on electronics. Really this could be done a lot more efficiently by setting a nuke in space above the U.S., but I don't think that they want to get into a nuclear pissing contest with us yet.

The military has taken measures to harden its electronics from EMP damage, satellites included. But if you've known anyone who did engineering for military, they will be the first to tell you that there is a difference between testing in the lab, and proving it in the field. I hope that you are correct about this territory being covered. Space is a harsh environment and it still amazes me that anything up in orbit lasts as long as it does.

The disturbing thing is the amount "quality time" the Chinese have had with our satellite and launcher technology. IF there is a way for them to "tune" an FCG or EMP bomb to punch through the hardening methods that the satellite contractors used, they will do their damnedest to find it. Aside from the military equipment, I doubt that the private, commercial satellites have received the same treatment. I really don't think that I can overstate just how much damage would be done to our economy if those were taken out. Remember in the summer of 1998 when just one communication satellite went out? Credit card transactions on the almost all of the east coast come to a screaching halt, along with a lot of pagers. Or if during hurricane season the weather satellites went down. I used to think that things like that just can't happen, but the events on 9/11 have kind of changed that.

Interesting replies, Orangedog.............very interesting. However, you "ignore" one little factor.

It won't happen.

As soon as we detect missile launches from the ChiComms headed towards US airspace, all Hell breaks loose. They gain some brand-spanking-new, glowing, glass-like parking lots where their major cities used to be, courtesy of our Air Force and Navy. You cannot forget the power of deterrence. It's real; I know........for as a former SAC aircrew commander, I know how the "bad guys" look at our nuclear capabilities.

IOW, it's not "what CAN be done"; it's "what can I do and get away with without seeing my country become a blazing inferno, unfit for human habitation for several centuries".

Launch a missile towards U.S. airspace from China and see if I'm wrong...........

If there's one thing that can be said for subjects relating to US/China combat senarios, it's that it rarely gets boring!

In January, 2001, A commission chaired by Donald Rumsfeld released a report to Congress regarding the vulnerability of U.S. satellites.

I agree that our nuclear stockpile is an excellent deterant. But here's the $64,000 question: Would an attack on our communications network be considered, by whatever administration is in office at the time, this as something that demands a nuclear response? We may have a limited missle defense operational at that time but China may be able to get a couple of birds past it. At this point China is glowing, cratered, radio-active wasteland that no longer has an over-population problem. Gravel from California is pelting Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon. NORAD is scrambling to re-establish communications that were cut off after 90% of U.S. satellites went silent. When the communication satellites went down, the Internet and telephone networks across the country are overwhelmed within minutes. The loss of the GPS satellites add to the communications problem because long-distance and local switches operated by US telecom carriers rely on the GPS network for a timing reference to synchronize their their networks. While all of this is happening, Russia is becoming a little more than upset about the dozen 10 megaton warheads raining down from the heavens so close to their back yard......Well, that's my version of a possible worst case situation. Since you actually served in SAC, I imagine that you would have a more accurate picture of the players and what level of threat they pose to us.

Well, I'm certainly not going to say that your original scenario couldn't happen (in a "technological" sense). What I AM suggesting is that it wouldn't be worth it to the ChiComms to try such a stunt. Besides........to what end? Prelude to an invasion? How? On the U.S. proper? No chance; no way to insert troops (i.e. no Navy). Lob nukes at us? Nope; they only have a few capable of hitting the West Coast (thank you Loral and Bill Clinton). That would result in all Hell raining down on their heads and sending them back to the Stone Age, so no chance there, either.

No, it won't happen because their chances of ultimate success are slim to zilch and the risks FAR outweigh any potential gain.

As to the (very good) question you posed: would a launch of such "EMP birds" over our country result in a nuke response? Yes. Absolutely. We won't wait 'round to determine what kinds of birds they've lobbed our way. That is a fact.........and we'd know where they're headed the minute they've launched.

Good points on you last post. The motivation for the Chinese wouldn't be a prelude to invasion of the US. Even if they wanted our land, they know that we are too well defended and they do not have the infrastructure to re-supply an invasion force in the other hemisphere. What they do want is to get us out of the region. Our aircraft carriers and the power that they can project are the only things that have kept them from invading Taiwan. They know, as does every other government on the planet, that one of our carrier groups can handle any other country's entire navy. Aircraft carriers are expensive to operate and maintain and we only have so many of them.

Here's a hypothetical one to ponder: Let's say we expand the war to Iraq. Our forces are divided between maintaining order in Afghanistan (with help from England) and conducting air strikes in Iraq. We have a lot of firepower in the region, but it's pretty well commited to Iraq and Afghanistan. China makes their move and takes out our satellites. Command and control of our forces in the Persian Gulf area take a big hit. Without GPS, JDAM's become very expensive un-guided gravity bombs. The only way to monitor Iraqi troop movements is with unmanned aircraft like the Preditor since we no longer have satellites. The situation is not good, but not impossible to deal with. Then we have a little surprise...North Korea charges through the DMZ and over-runs our forces. Then China launches an envasion of Taiwan.

Back in the US, the stock market is doing a repeat of it's post 9/11 dive, that is, if the markets have been able to re-open. Television networks are scambling to buy time on the few remaining communications satellites over the continental US. Commerce is at a crawl because credit card transactions, pay-at-the-pump have to be called in manually and the companies that handle authorizing those transactions can't handle the amount of calls. Most automated teller machines are out of service. A few years back, there were some studies done on the damage to our economy if a series of solar flares or meteor showers took out our satellites. I believe the effect was in the neighborhood of several trillion dollars in lost productivity and commerce which could cause a long financial depression. With our economy in ruins, it would be hard to keep the military supplied. And all of this is if there isn't a thermo-nuclear exchange. I'll be the first to say that the possibility of any of this happening is remote at best. But at this time last year I would have thought the same thing about the chances of four passenger jets being hijacked in the same hour for kamikaze attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

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