We have no defence against an EMP attack.

[squeezewax]

I was just watching Life, Liberty and Levin on Fox News. On the show there was an hour long interview with Peter Pry who is an expert on EMPs. He is the author of Blackout Wars.
He was saying that all an enemy country needs to do is to detonate a nuclear weapon 300 kms above a city and it would wipe out our electronics. Interestingly he said if a person standing under such an attack they wouldn't hear it[vacuum in space] and there'd be no fallout.

Obviously this isn't the first time i've heard of EMPs but it's the first time i've listened to an expert in the field.
He mentioned that the nuclear bomb could come from a satellite too. Apparently there are 2 Nth Korean satellites that pass over the United States a couple of times a days and we have no idea if they are armed. They are just out of range of our missile defence and they travel along a southern orbit. He said all our early-warning devices and missiles are pointed north and we are unprotected if something comes from the south. That's because during the cold war it was assumed Russia would send missiles from the north towards America, however after all this time America is still vulnerable from the south.

Also said he and other experts in his field believe Iran has had a nuclear bomb for some time. He said America could be protected from an EMP detonation and that it would cost around 2 billion dollars. That was the amount of money the America would send Pakistan each year in aid, so it's not a huge amount.
Nth Korea has made it a priority for some years to develop a reliable EMP. He said NK, Russia and China are ahead of the West when it comes to these weapons.
Scary stuff.

 

[7437]

We have no idea if they are armed or not?



Sounds like we better panic. Maybe nuke them.

 

[PrinceOfPain]

You're behind the great power curve when it comes to electronic warfare in general.
Pretty amusing, considering the sophistication of the systems you like to trot out means that your entire military is pretty vulnerable to this particular area of warfare.

 

[Fronk]

You're behind the great power curve when it comes to electronic warfare in general.
Pretty amusing, considering the sophistication of the systems you like to trot out means that your entire military is pretty vulnerable to this particular area of warfare.

The US couldn't even defend their entire political system against 250k worth of facebook ads.

 

[Ruprecht]

You're behind the great power curve when it comes to electronic warfare in general.
Pretty amusing, considering the sophistication of the systems you like to trot out means that your entire military is pretty vulnerable to this particular area of warfare.

Their military systems are radiation hardened, it's the civilian infrastructure that's vulnerable.

 

[PrinceOfPain]

Their military systems are radiation hardened, it's the civilian infrastructure that's vulnerable.

I was more focused on the electro-magnetic aspect of the OP, since I don't really think anyone with sense considers America particularly vulnerable to nuclear attack (MAD and all that). And, as I said, EW is an area where America's military is vulnerable - in part because of the sophistication of their equipment, and in part because it is an area of combat that they've neglected until recently (at least, they have relative to their potential great power foes).

 

[bobgeese]

I hope that country enjoys their future as a pile of dust.

 

[Ruprecht]

I was more focused on the electro-magnetic aspect of the OP, since I don't really think anyone with sense considers America particularly vulnerable to nuclear attack (MAD and all that). And, as I said, EW is an area where America's military is vulnerable - in part because of the sophistication of their equipment, and in part because it is an area of combat that they've neglected until recently (at least, they have relative to their potential great power foes).

Aside from whacking everything in a Faraday cage, radiation hardening is what makes electronics resistant to EMP attacks. It's electromagnetic radiation they are hardened against.

 

[PrinceOfPain]

Aside from whacking everything in a Faraday cage, radiation hardening is what makes electronics resistant to EMP attacks. It's electromagnetic radiation they are hardened against.

Then one might assume that there is more to defending against EW than radiation shielding, since the American army's vulnerability to it is pretty well-publicised?

 

[VivaRevolution]

I was just watching Life, Liberty and Levin on Fox News. On the show there was an hour long interview with Peter Pry who is an expert on EMPs. He is the author of Blackout Wars.
He was saying that all an enemy country needs to do is to detonate a nuclear weapon 300 kms above a city and it would wipe out our electronics. Interestingly he said if a person standing under such an attack they wouldn't hear it[vacuum in space] and there'd be no fallout.

Obviously this isn't the first time i've heard of EMPs but it's the first time i've listened to an expert in the field.
He mentioned that the nuclear bomb could come from a satellite too. Apparently there are 2 Nth Korean satellites that pass over the United States a couple of times a days and we have no idea if they are armed. They are just out of range of our missile defence and they travel along a southern orbit. He said all our early-warning devices and missiles are pointed north and we are unprotected if something comes from the south. That's because during the cold war it was assumed Russia would send missiles from the north towards America, however after all this time America is still vulnerable from the south.

Also said he and other experts in his field believe Iran has had a nuclear bomb for some time. He said America could be protected from an EMP detonation and that it would cost around 2 billion dollars. That was the amount of money the America would send Pakistan each year in aid, so it's not a huge amount.
Nth Korea has made it a priority for some years to develop a reliable EMP. He said NK, Russia and China are ahead of the West when it comes to these weapons.
Scary stuff.

And this is why you hear the talk of a moon base.

It isn't for scientific study. It is to shoot down sattelites.

 

[Ruprecht]

Then one might assume that there is more to defending against EW than radiation shielding, since the American army's vulnerability to it is pretty well-publicised?

Their vulnerability is probably related to their use of commercial off the shelf systems in a lot of support roles, but that doesn't apply to their actual weapons systems.
You're not going to reduce America to small arms with an EMP blast, but you'd knock out a lot of their power, traffic, health and general communications infrastructure.

 

[dudeguyman]

I was just watching Life, Liberty and Levin on Fox News. On the show there was an hour long interview with Peter Pry who is an expert on EMPs. He is the author of Blackout Wars.
He was saying that all an enemy country needs to do is to detonate a nuclear weapon 300 kms above a city and it would wipe out our electronics. Interestingly he said if a person standing under such an attack they wouldn't hear it[vacuum in space] and there'd be no fallout.

Obviously this isn't the first time i've heard of EMPs but it's the first time i've listened to an expert in the field.
He mentioned that the nuclear bomb could come from a satellite too. Apparently there are 2 Nth Korean satellites that pass over the United States a couple of times a days and we have no idea if they are armed. They are just out of range of our missile defence and they travel along a southern orbit. He said all our early-warning devices and missiles are pointed north and we are unprotected if something comes from the south. That's because during the cold war it was assumed Russia would send missiles from the north towards America, however after all this time America is still vulnerable from the south.

Also said he and other experts in his field believe Iran has had a nuclear bomb for some time. He said America could be protected from an EMP detonation and that it would cost around 2 billion dollars. That was the amount of money the America would send Pakistan each year in aid, so it's not a huge amount.
Nth Korea has made it a priority for some years to develop a reliable EMP. He said NK, Russia and China are ahead of the West when it comes to these weapons.
Scary stuff.

Emp's won't stop gunpowder.

 

[VivaRevolution]

Emp's won't stop gunpowder.

Or titties. Hence my new titties for peace platform.

I mean who can aim a gun when titties are distracting you?

Instead of gun free zones, we need free titty zones. Free those titties, save a life

 

[dudeguyman]

Or titties. Hence my new titties for peace platform.

I mean who can aim a gun when titties are distracting you?

Instead of gun free zones, we need free titty zones. Free those titties, save a life

Strip club time?

 

[PrinceOfPain]

Their vulnerability is probably related to their use of commercial off the shelf systems in a lot of support roles, but that doesn't apply to their actual weapons systems.
You're not going to reduce America to small arms with an EMP blast, but you'd knock out a lot of their power, traffic, health and general communications infrastructure.

We're talking past each other - probably my fault though, since I largely ignored the "nuke" component of the OP.
I am not discussing purely EMP attacks, I am talking about electronic warfare in general.

I would agree that an EMP is not a particularly grave threat to the American military - but an EMP is only one small piece of the overall threat presented by electronic warfare. America's weakness in this area mostly comes down to their focus on blowing up cave people for the past 25 years or so and neglecting RnD that would stand them in good stead against near-peer rivals, while Russia and China have been investing heavily in EW research as a part of their overall A2/AD strategy.

 

[EvilManny]

We bout to live in Dark Angel. Look out for montecore

 

[KnightTemplar]

The US couldn't even defend their entire political system against 250k worth of facebook ads.

 

[SaiWa]

And this is why you hear the talk of a moon base.

It isn't for scientific study. It is to shoot down sattelites.

good joke! U are joking yes???

 

[Ruprecht]

We're talking past each other - probably my fault though, since I largely ignored the "nuke" component of the OP.
I am not discussing purely EMP attacks, I am talking about electronic warfare in general.

I would agree that an EMP is not a particularly grave threat to the American military - but an EMP is only one small piece of the overall threat presented by electronic warfare. America's weakness in this area mostly comes down to their focus on blowing up cave people for the past 25 years or so and neglecting RnD that would stand them in good stead against near-peer rivals, while Russia and China have been investing heavily in EW research as a part of their overall A2/AD strategy.

Yeah, they've definitely been focused on their role as World Police rather than fending off "soft power" attacks from (re)emerging superpowers.

 

[OverCoronavirus Pressure]

All they have to do to successfully attack us is successfully attack us