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Saddam to be target of Britain's 'E-bomb'
news.telegraph.co.uk ^ | 26/08/2002 | By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent

Posted on 08/27/2002 10:53:38 AM PDT by dgallo51

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Geeze I hope Sadam's paid the ChiComs for all that nifty telecommunications gear they got via TEAM CLINTON!
1 posted on 08/27/2002 10:53:38 AM PDT by dgallo51
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To: dgallo51; *miltech; Grampa Dave; blam; Gritty; Dog Gone; snopercod; *tech_index; Mathlete; ...
Whoa!!

Things look brighter, thanks for posting this stunner!

OFFICIAL BUMP(TOPIC)LIST

2 posted on 08/27/2002 10:59:10 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: NRA2BFree; OldFriend; fivecatsandadog; tomahawk; yendu bwam; Askel5
Thought this might be of interest!
3 posted on 08/27/2002 11:03:36 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
Geez. I hope we have a defense for this. Within ten years, I'm guessing one of our many adversaries around the globe will have access to something like this.

Of course, I am not that knowledgeable about these things. But given how nuclear technology went from the top secret Manhattan Project to world wide nuclear proliferation, I can imagine that this technology will find its way into some bad guy's arsenal in the coming years.
4 posted on 08/27/2002 11:05:37 AM PDT by Maceman
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
If you know, have we ever played a war game without satellites or other essential electronic support?
5 posted on 08/27/2002 11:07:03 AM PDT by Askel5
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To: dgallo51
Miss Moneypenny, please ask Q to come in.
6 posted on 08/27/2002 11:10:20 AM PDT by APBaer
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To: Askel5; CIApilot; BOBTHENAILER; Gunrunner2; Travis McGee; archy; VaBthang4; Squantos
No idea!

The simulation stuff I am familiar with, involved missiles.

In a prior life!

7 posted on 08/27/2002 11:18:45 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: Maceman
Geez. I hope we have a defense for this. Within ten years, I'm guessing one of our many adversaries around the globe will have access to something like this.

This is of course what will happen. But the good thing is we have this weapon now, and they don't. America's military prowess (apart from the heroic men and women of the armed forces) rests not so much in her weapons, but in her technological edge. That is an edge that we must always be willing to maintain.

8 posted on 08/27/2002 11:27:25 AM PDT by yendu bwam
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To: dgallo51
"The weapon can also ... stopping telephone"

"Do you have a pocket size version to knock out cellphones?
And no, it's not necessary that it be nonlethal."
9 posted on 08/27/2002 11:27:26 AM PDT by APBaer
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To: dgallo51
Would love to see Saddam's face when he can no longer use his cell phone to call in his Republican Guard nanny protectors.
10 posted on 08/27/2002 11:28:17 AM PDT by yendu bwam
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To: Maceman
Geez. I hope we have a defense for this. Within ten years, I'm guessing one of our many adversaries around the globe will have access to something like this. Of course, I am not that knowledgeable about these things. But given how nuclear technology went from the top secret Manhattan Project to world wide nuclear proliferation, I can imagine that this technology will find its way into some bad guy's arsenal in the coming years.

If you enjoy realistic fiction alah Tom Clancy, Koonts's book "America" deals with this type of weaponry. It's an enjoyable read.

11 posted on 08/27/2002 11:30:50 AM PDT by amused
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To: Maceman
Well, if Mrs. Clinton gets in to the White House, it's almost a guarantee that she and her administration will sell any secrets we may have--if her hubby hasn't done it already. My, what we have to look forward to!
12 posted on 08/27/2002 11:32:12 AM PDT by Marysecretary
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To: Askel5
>>If you know, have we ever played a war game without satellites or other essential electronic support?<<

We have considered this and are developing defensive/offensive measures. We like GPS, but what if it is shut down? We have back up delivery systems and such, they just are not as acccurate as the front-line state of the practise systems.
Further, when engaging in EMP-type battles, the difficulty is in a close battle. Much like chem/bio/smoke, it affects everything on the battlefield--friend and foe.

For strategic attacks, this is no real problem, as we turn out the lights in the enemy's camp, not ours. We have to watch out for the whiners that wail about pulling the plug on grandma while she is on some operating table in the local hospital. Here we enter into the area of double-effect and proportionality.

So, our simulations do incorporate this threat, but not as much as they should.
13 posted on 08/27/2002 11:53:41 AM PDT by Gunrunner2
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To: dgallo51
Here's some background on the e-bomb from Popular Mechanics:


E-BOMB
In the blink of an eye, electromagnetic bombs could throw civilization back 200 years. And terrorists can build them for $400.
BY JIM WILSON
Lead illustration by Edwin Herder

The next Pearl Harbor will not announce itself with a searing flash of nuclear light or with the plaintive wails of those dying of Ebola or its genetically engineered twin. You will hear a sharp crack in the distance. By the time you mistakenly identify this sound as an innocent clap of thunder, the civilized world will have become unhinged. Fluorescent lights and television sets will glow eerily bright, despite being turned off. The aroma of ozone mixed with smoldering plastic will seep from outlet covers as electric wires arc and telephone lines melt. Your Palm Pilot and MP3 player will feel warm to the touch, their batteries overloaded. Your computer, and every bit of data on it, will be toast. And then you will notice that the world sounds different too. The background music of civilization, the whirl of internal-combustion engines, will have stopped. Save a few diesels, engines will never start again. You, however, will remain unharmed, as you find yourself thrust backward 200 years, to a time when electricity meant a lightning bolt fracturing the night sky. This is not a hypothetical, son-of-Y2K scenario. It is a realistic assessment of the damage the Pentagon believes could be inflicted by a new generation of weapons--E-bombs.

The first major test of an American electromagnetic bomb is scheduled for next year. Ultimately, the Army hopes to use E-bomb technology to explode artillery shells in midflight. The Navy wants to use the E-bomb's high-power microwave pulses to neutralize antiship missiles. And, the Air Force plans to equip its bombers, strike fighters, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles with E-bomb capabilities. When fielded, these will be among the most technologically sophisticated weapons the U.S. military establishment has ever built.

There is, however, another part to the E-bomb story, one that military planners are reluctant to discuss. While American versions of these weapons are based on advanced technologies, terrorists could use a less expensive, low-tech approach to create the same destructive power. "Any nation with even a 1940s technology base could make them," says Carlo Kopp, an Australian-based expert on high-tech warfare. "The threat of E-bomb proliferation is very real." POPULAR MECHANICS estimates a basic weapon could be built for $400.

An Old Idea Made New
The theory behind the E-bomb was proposed in 1925 by physicist Arthur H. Compton--not to build weapons, but to study atoms. Compton demonstrated that firing a stream of highly energetic photons into atoms that have a low atomic number causes them to eject a stream of electrons. Physics students know this phenomenon as the Compton Effect. It became a key tool in unlocking the secrets of the atom.

Ironically, this nuclear research led to an unexpected demonstration of the power of the Compton Effect, and spawned a new type of weapon. In 1958, nuclear weapons designers ignited hydrogen bombs high over the Pacific Ocean. The detonations created bursts of gamma rays that, upon striking the oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere, released a tsunami of electrons that spread for hundreds of miles. Street lights were blown out in Hawaii and radio navigation was disrupted for 18 hours, as far away as Australia. The United States set out to learn how to "harden" electronics against this electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and develop EMP weapons.

America has remained at the forefront of EMP weapons development. Although much of this work is classified, it's believed that current efforts are based on using high-temperature superconductors to create intense magnetic fields. What worries terrorism experts is an idea the United States studied but discarded--the Flux Compression Generator (FCG).

A Poor Man's E-Bomb
An FCG is an astoundingly simple weapon. It consists of an explosives-packed tube placed inside a slightly larger copper coil, as shown below. The instant before the chemical explosive is detonated, the coil is energized by a bank of capacitors, creating a magnetic field. The explosive charge detonates from the rear forward. As the tube flares outward it touches the edge of the coil, thereby creating a moving short circuit. "The propagating short has the effect of compressing the magnetic field while reducing the inductance of the stator [coil]," says Kopp. "The result is that FCGs will produce a ramping current pulse, which breaks before the final disintegration of the device. Published results suggest ramp times of tens of hundreds of microseconds and peak currents of tens of millions of amps." The pulse that emerges makes a lightning bolt seem like a flashbulb by comparison.

An Air Force spokesman, who describes this effect as similar to a lightning strike, points out that electronics systems can be protected by placing them in metal enclosures called Faraday Cages that divert any impinging electromagnetic energy directly to the ground. Foreign military analysts say this reassuring explanation is incomplete.

The India Connection
The Indian military has studied FCG devices in detail because it fears that Pakistan, with which it has ongoing conflicts, might use E-bombs against the city of Bangalore, a sort of Indian Silicon Valley. An Indian Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis study of E-bombs points to two problems that have been largely overlooked by the West. The first is that very-high-frequency pulses, in the microwave range, can worm their way around vents in Faraday Cages. The second concern is known as the "late-time EMP effect," and may be the most worrisome aspect of FCG devices. It occurs in the 15 minutes after detonation. During this period, the EMP that surged through electrical systems creates localized magnetic fields. When these magnetic fields collapse, they cause electric surges to travel through the power and telecommunication infrastructure. This string-of-firecrackers effect means that terrorists would not have to drop their homemade E-bombs directly on the targets they wish to destroy. Heavily guarded sites, such as telephone switching centers and electronic funds-transfer exchanges, could be attacked through their electric and telecommunication connections.

Knock out electric power, computers and telecommunication and you've destroyed the foundation of modern society. In the age of Third World-sponsored terrorism, the E-bomb is the great equalizer.

In the 1980s, the Air Force tested E-bombs that used cruise-missile delivery systems.
PHOTO BY AVAIATION WEEK & AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY
To ignite an E-bomb, a starter current energizes the stator coil, creating a magnetic field. The explosion (A) expands the tube, short-circuiting the coil and compressing the magnetic field forward (B). The pulse is emitted (C) at high frequencies that defeat protective devices like Faraday Cages. ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN BATCHELOR

14 posted on 08/27/2002 12:01:22 PM PDT by LouD
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach; *tech_index
Filing at tech index
15 posted on 08/27/2002 12:05:17 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
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To: LouD
Most interesting!
16 posted on 08/27/2002 12:13:27 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: afraidfortherepublic
Got a script for direct access to tech_index:

To find all articles tagged or indexed using tech_index

Click here: tech_index

17 posted on 08/27/2002 12:15:03 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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To: Gunrunner2
Thank you. I shall probably sound you out in the future, if you don't mind.
18 posted on 08/27/2002 12:29:16 PM PDT by Askel5
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To: Askel5
No problem.
19 posted on 08/27/2002 12:41:46 PM PDT by Gunrunner2
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To: Maceman
The ChiComs are feverishly working on such technology. Depending upon how upcoming elections go, they may be "in the market". It will be interesting to see how Terry McAuliffe launders their purchase.
20 posted on 08/27/2002 12:55:04 PM PDT by dgallo51
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