An Electrical Attack of Mass Destruction -should we try to prepare for it?

An electrical attack of mass destruction may be called an EMP attack. A single Scud missile detonated in the air could wipe out electronics across the US and another could do the same for Europe. Considering that terrorists may be contemplating or even working on plans along with such nations as Iran or North Korea, I'm wondering if we should be considering plans to alleviate the destructive power of such an attack in our homes or businesses.

I believe the US and West are highly vulnerable to such an attack and we as a nation are not even considering this to be a very valid concern at the moment. It could come back to really bite us if it ever happens. If such an attack occurred, here is what I envision occurring for most. A wave of electrons from the blast in the air spreads out across the nation. Electrical grids go down and stay down for weeks or months. Most computer and electronic chips are destroyed. Computer data is corrupted. Most cars will not run. Gas and water will be unavailable without power. Retail stores can not operate cash registers to sell goods and your bank data was all stored on computer somewhere. ATM's won't work of course. Our home pc's will be fried even after we get power back on.

Now I know some are very concerned about such an attack but should we worry as a nation or do something about it? Can we do much about it? Is the threat of cheap EMP weapons going to be a very real threat in the near future? If anyone has some insight I would like to hear it.

Links: from How Stuff Works - The Electromagnetic Bomb
science.howstuffworks.com...://198.65.138.161/military/library/report/1996/apjemp.htm

Effects of an E-bomb
science.howstuffworks.com...

I started wondering about EMP bombs since I was wondering if a small one could be used to neutralize a dirty bomb in a city when we didn't know exactly where it was in the city. If the US government detonated a small E-bomb to have city wide effects to save the people of the city, the people would not suffer due to a dirty bomb but would suffer due to the small E-bomb.

Links to site suggesting Iran is planning an EMP attack
www.endtimesreport.com...

www.endtimesreport.com...

Do we as a nation need to take the threat of E-bombs more seriously?
Even little steps such as keeping hardcopies of computer data may be big steps in the aftermath of such a disaster or attack. Maybe we need shielded generators for use at water pumping stations and at gas stations. A little bit of insurance in case this attack occurs may really help.



[edit on 5-10-2005 by orionthehunter]

A single Scud missile detonated in the air could wipe out electronics across the US and another could do the same for Europe

The only way to knock out all of america's electrical equipment would be to use a nuclear weapon detonated in the air, I don't there are many terrorist cells that have access to a nuclear missle, maybe a nuclear weapon but not a missle which would be needed to detonate it 50km in the air.

You can build an EMP weapon, though I doubt it would have a great enough range to take out the whole country - I don't even think a nuke's EMP could.

Basically it uses a coil and a sequence of explosives, a high voltage is discharged through the coil at the moment of the explosion - more details can be found by searching, so it is possible.

I aksed myself the same question some time ago.

In my opinion the answer to your question is no, I wouldn't worry and heres why. I currently work in the IT industry giving consultancy to businesses. I also work as a freelance software engineer. Part of that job includes data security and making sure people protect their data.

Firstly lets look at the problem on a wide scale:

Modern construction of building includes massive use of re-enforced concrete. Why is this important? Well it forms a fareday cage rendering most modern buildings impervious to attack as the cage simply discharges the EMP blast. This means all electrical equipment is already shielded within the building.

The military and government already have hardened electronics so there are no issues there. As for business, well any company worth its salt backs up all its data every night and places that data in a fire proof safe off site then turns off its computers. Many big Businesses dump their company data in sites hundereds of miles away. Again these sites are hardened from emp and in some cases even nuclear threats.

How do I know this? Well thats what British steel do. (Now known as Corus) I did work experince some years back (many years back!)

Now on a small scale

Home users can protect themsleves by simply backing up their data and placing it in a fireproof safe. Jobs a good un!

Yes you can build EMP's but I imagine they are unlikely to be effective enough to take out a country. Bottom line. You are more likely to loose your data through hard disk failure or a plain old house fire.

There have been a couple of threads on this topic, with some valid arguments presented for both sides of the argument that an EMP weapon could do significant damage to the United States electrical and information infrastructure.

This thread by edsinger illustrates a wide range of opinions either way, as does this thread by QuietSoul.

You might want to check them out to see what members have previously said about this kind of attack.

not to mention my response to a previous thread here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

enslaved makes some good points, but he misses the broader picture: modes of transportation. an emp blast at the correct altitude would knock 90 percent of commercial aviation in the effected areas out of the sky, causing massive damage and loss of life. it would also shut down every car built after 84, causing massive pileups and again, loss of life.

Originally posted by snafu7700
not to mention my response to a previous thread here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

enslaved makes some good points, but he misses the broader picture: modes of transportation. an emp blast at the correct altitude would knock 90 percent of commercial aviation in the effected areas out of the sky, causing massive damage and loss of life. it would also shut down every car built after 84, causing massive pileups and again, loss of life.

That one hadn't crossed my mind, good point.

I forgotten how many chips there are in engines these days for fuel injection ect ect. really I don't see an EMP as damaging to the data we use to power our economy, mearly the hardware. (I say "mearly" lol)

This attack COULD be done, the question is however practicallity.

I do not see an attack on America's or the European power grid coming. That is because a terror group would have to have years of training in dealing with the launch capability of a SCUD or nuclear missile. The only thing that our power grid is succeptible to is a massive blackout.