Total Blackout-USAF tests defences against EMP attacks amid fears that ONE weapon could wipe out entire power grid

Doc7505

Diamond Member
Feb 16, 2016
15,718
27,676
2,430
TOTAL BLACKOUT:
US Air Force tests defences against EMP attacks amid fears that ONE weapon could wipe out entire power grid
US Air Force tests defences against EMP attacks amid fears that ONE weapon could wipe out entire power grid (thesun.co.uk)
12 Mar 2021 ~~ By Harry Pettit

THE US military is shielding itself from a new type of weapon capable of knocking out entire power grids for extended periods.
An Air Force base in Texas will soon test its systems against a simulated electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, according to reports.
EMPs use a powerful electromagnetic wave to knock out all electronic devices in its wake, including mobile phones, radar technology are more.
According to US news site NextGov, at Joint Base San Antonio in Lackland, Texas will be among the first Air Forces bases to test EMP defences.
The site needs to do preliminary surveys to design future tests.
The work is in adherence to a Trump-era executive order requiring the military to put more resources into defending against EMP attacks.
A request for quote for an EMP-tailored survey of the a complex at Joint Base San Antonio was issued last month, NextGov reports.
That complex includes an underground pipeline that connects two areas of the base, which house multiple buildings.
It's not clear when the base plans to launch its EMP defence tests, or precisely what those tests will entail.
According to the Air Force request, the tests won't include the use of actual electromagnetic waves.
~Snip~
Trump moved to protect the US from the emerging threat of EMP attacks with an executive order issued in 2019.
The federal government must provide warning; protect against, respond to and recover from the effects of electromagnetic pulses through planning, investment and stakeholder engagement, Trump's directive stated.
"It is the policy of the United States to prepare for the effects of EMPs through targeted approaches that coordinate whole-of-government activities and encourage private sector engagement," the order said.


Comment:
Obviously to the detriment of the U.S. Military Chyna Joey Xi will kill the Exec Order of Trump and place America's National Security in jeopardy.
Our military forces, bar none, have the capacity to destroy any nation that rises up against us but for one problem it takes command codes to launch which will be rendered useless by a well-placed EMP attack - pretty much, I think, reducing us to the level of neanderthals throwing rocks and spears.
The military has been hardening its sites against EMP attack, However, the national grid has never been hardened. As the author has stated one nuclear EMP bomb over America could shut down the electrical grid and put us all into the dark ages.
  • Any electronic equipment that is turned on and unshielded at the time of the EMP is destroyed. That means that complex computer-run systems go offline, like water utilities, internet, hospitals, and food distribution. The circuits inside of your car’s computer instantly melt from the electromagnetic surge.
 
George Noory on Coast to Coast AM has been talking about this for years.
 
THE US military is shielding itself from a new type of weapon capable of knocking out entire power grids for extended periods.

This is not a new type of weapon at all. EMP as a natural phenomenon (lightning and solar flares) has been known for a century. Non-nuclear EMP was first theorized as a weapon by The Soviets in 1951.

A high altitude nuclear attack at 20 kilometers or more could affect power systems and electrical devices for hundreds of miles. But, non-nuclear EMP (using chemical explosives as a trigger) has about 10 to the -6 (a millionth) of the power of nuclear EMP and has a range of only a few hundred yards.
 
1. the US will die from within long before any foreign attack
2. who's capable of delivering those weapons? you would need long bombers, yes? so the initial defense would be the Navy, USAF, EWS, AWACS, etc
 
Anything with antennas and long cables or wires will get fried, along with anything plugged into the electric grid.

You can live in a lead box, but any lines going in will fry it.

I have a tin roof and aluminum siding that I grounded separately from the electrical system and it shields the cell phones to the point you have to go by a window to use them. But unless I unplug every electronic appliance on a regular basis and hope the EMP doesn't hit while I'm connected, most of my electronics will get fried and may even set my house on fire regardless of the shielding.

You will have to have duplicate electronics stored in a Faraday cage far from the electrical grid and wires. That would include generators. Cars and trucks depend on make and year, but I have read that an EMP won't cause damage that cannot be repaired with the right parts shielded in the cage.
 
THE US military is shielding itself from a new type of weapon capable of knocking out entire power grids for extended periods.

This is not a new type of weapon at all. EMP as a natural phenomenon (lightning and solar flares) has been known for a century. Non-nuclear EMP was first theorized as a weapon by The Soviets in 1951.

A high altitude nuclear attack at 20 kilometers or more could affect power systems and electrical devices for hundreds of miles. But, non-nuclear EMP (using chemical explosives as a trigger) has about 10 to the -6 (a millionth) of the power of nuclear EMP and has a range of only a few hundred yards.
Yes, there was such a nice thing called "Carrington event" in 1859.
And we were very lucky to avoid another one in 2012.
 
1. the US will die from within long before any foreign attack
2. who's capable of delivering those weapons? you would need long bombers, yes? so the initial defense would be the Navy, USAF, EWS, AWACS, etc
How about a nuke onboard a satellite?
 
1. the US will die from within long before any foreign attack
2. who's capable of delivering those weapons? you would need long bombers, yes? so the initial defense would be the Navy, USAF, EWS, AWACS, etc
How about a nuke onboard a satellite?

Satellites make really poor nuclear platforms. They're next to impossible to hide. They can't be re-targeted easily, and they can't be hardened against attack.

They share the disadvantages of missile silos with the impossibility of defending them against attack.
 
1. the US will die from within long before any foreign attack
2. who's capable of delivering those weapons? you would need long bombers, yes? so the initial defense would be the Navy, USAF, EWS, AWACS, etc
How about a nuke onboard a satellite?

Satellites make really poor nuclear platforms. They're next to impossible to hide. They can't be re-targeted easily, and they can't be hardened against attack.

They share the disadvantages of missile silos with the impossibility of defending them against attack.
A nuke onboard a satellite would make a great EMP weapon.

Perhaps that is why we now have a Space Force.


 
1. the US will die from within long before any foreign attack
2. who's capable of delivering those weapons? you would need long bombers, yes? so the initial defense would be the Navy, USAF, EWS, AWACS, etc
How about a nuke onboard a satellite?

Satellites make really poor nuclear platforms. They're next to impossible to hide. They can't be re-targeted easily, and they can't be hardened against attack.

They share the disadvantages of missile silos with the impossibility of defending them against attack.
You probably would never have to re-target a nuke onboard a satellite designed to be an EMP weapon.

 
1. the US will die from within long before any foreign attack
2. who's capable of delivering those weapons? you would need long bombers, yes? so the initial defense would be the Navy, USAF, EWS, AWACS, etc
How about a nuke onboard a satellite?

Satellites make really poor nuclear platforms. They're next to impossible to hide. They can't be re-targeted easily, and they can't be hardened against attack.

They share the disadvantages of missile silos with the impossibility of defending them against attack.
You probably would never have to re-target a nuke onboard a satellite designed to be an EMP weapon.

I am sorry, but you have no idea what you are talking about. Satellites have a ground track that varies with the orbit. They are rarely geostationary because of the distance involved.
 
Satellites have a ground track that varies with the orbit.

Absolutely they do. And EVERY red force on this planet (from Red China to ISIS) has intel on what satellite will be where and when.

Because satellites travel according to Newton's well-documented laws, it is very easy to predict with great accuracy where they will be at any given time.

The first thing we did in submarines before coming to periscope depth was consult the documentation to see if we were in the window of Soviet spy satellites.

A geosynchronous nuclear satellite would be twice as useless as one in LEO. They sit out at 36,000 Km, there would have the same, or greater travel time as land or sea-based missiles. Without the advantage of surprise. Detection would be instantaneous.
 
1. the US will die from within long before any foreign attack
2. who's capable of delivering those weapons? you would need long bombers, yes? so the initial defense would be the Navy, USAF, EWS, AWACS, etc
How about a nuke onboard a satellite?

Satellites make really poor nuclear platforms. They're next to impossible to hide. They can't be re-targeted easily, and they can't be hardened against attack.

They share the disadvantages of missile silos with the impossibility of defending them against attack.
You probably would never have to re-target a nuke onboard a satellite designed to be an EMP weapon.


Nuke missiles, of the MIRV variety, have multiple target packages for dozens of different nuclear scenarios. Back in the day, loading the target packages prior to launch was called "spinning up" because the target packages were on spinning disk packs. I was surprised to learn that they still use the the term "spinning up" despite have gone to solid-state media long ago.
 
1. the US will die from within long before any foreign attack
2. who's capable of delivering those weapons? you would need long bombers, yes? so the initial defense would be the Navy, USAF, EWS, AWACS, etc
How about a nuke onboard a satellite?

Satellites make really poor nuclear platforms. They're next to impossible to hide. They can't be re-targeted easily, and they can't be hardened against attack.

They share the disadvantages of missile silos with the impossibility of defending them against attack.
You probably would never have to re-target a nuke onboard a satellite designed to be an EMP weapon.

I am sorry, but you have no idea what you are talking about. Satellites have a ground track that varies with the orbit. They are rarely geostationary because of the distance involved.
I am aware of that. Are you aware that a nuke on a satellite can be detonated at any point chosen by the controlling nation. For example North Korea could explode a satellite nuke when it was above our nation.

For example:

North Korea Satellite Orbit

Suspect Super-EMP Orbit Over United States​

ByKen J.Updated on04/08/2013
50 Comments

Given the recent nuclear threats from North Korea directed at the United States, the satellite orbital map shown above indicates the track of the KMS 3-2 “satellite” this week from APR 8 – APR 16, which coincidentally just so happens to orbit along the eastern half of the U.S.

Some believe or suspect that this “satellite” may actually be a Super-EMP nuclear device…

No one knows for sure of course, but people like Dr. Peter Vincent Pry with credentials from the USAF Weapons Laboratory believes that North Korea indeed may have the capability or may even posses Super-EMP nuclear weapons.

On December 12, 2012, the Kwangmyongsong 3-2 (KMS 3-2) was launched into space on a polar orbit, and is said to be an “Earth observation satellite”. The satellite was not placed perfectly and is evidently tumbling every 17 seconds while it orbits the earth. From an EMP nuclear weapon perspective, the tumbling is apparently irrelevant.

The altitude of orbit is approximately 500 km, or about 300 miles, the perfect altitude for EMP detonation for maximum range and damage. Coincidence?
 
Are you aware that a nuke on a satellite can be detonated at any point chosen by the controlling nation.

Satellites in LEO are anywhere from 200 to 1000 Km above The Earth. According to publicly available data, the optimum detonation altitude from a nuclear EMP is about 30 Km above The Earth. Of course, no one knows for sure, this weapon, unlike nuclear weapons has never specifically been tested. The effect are purely theoretical.

But, even if the optimum altitude is as high as 60 Km, just detonating the satellite in earth orbit wouldn't work. There would still have to be a launch from the orbital platform to the detonation altitude. Also, since satellites are continuously tracking over The Earth, that launch could only occur when the orbital platform is in a specific launch window. It would literally take hours from the decision to launch the weapon to actually launch... unlike missile-based nukes that can be RTL within minutes of a decision to strike. This leaves the nuclear platforms VERY vulnerable to being destroyed prior to launch.

That means that a nuclear EMP weapon is only effect as a first-strike, surprise attack weapon. As someone, very rightfully, pointed out earlier, a nuclear EMP attack from China or another nuclear / space power, would be immediately invoke an all-out nuclear retaliation from us ... targeted at people and cities, resulting in megadeaths. The attacking force couldn't even maintain plausible deniability. We would know precisely where the EMP weapon platforms are and who put them up there.
 

Forum List

Back
Top