To get EMP effects on that scale, you need a high-yield device (1 megaton or better) and it needs to be set off in space, preferably about 200 miles up. You can’t do that with a ship or an airliner. The mullahs would need (a) a hydrogen bomb; and (b) the ability to put it at orbital altitudes (not necessarily orbital speed) over the US.
I'm sure you know more than I about this. I've just been intrigued by the idea the few times I've heard about it. Sen Kyl (az) wrote a short article about this, a portion being: “A single Scud missile, carrying a single nuclear weapon, detonated at the appropriate altitude, would interact with the Earth's atmosphere, producing an electromagnetic pulse radiating down to the surface at the speed of light. Depending on the location and size of the blast, the effect would be to knock out already stressed power grids and other electrical systems across much or even all of the continental United States, for months if not years.”
I don't really know much about missiles, but I've heard that Scud’s ARE in the hands of Iran/Korea. Couldn't one be loaded on a container ship?
I'm fascinated and horrified by this. Was Kyl’s assessment a bit hysterical?
To get EMP effects on that scale, you need a high-yield device (1 megaton or better) and it needs to be set off in space, preferably about 200 miles up. You can’t do that with a ship or an airliner. The mullahs would need (a) a hydrogen bomb; and (b) the ability to put it at orbital altitudes (not necessarily orbital speed) over the US. From what I've read in the National EMP Assessment and other docs, a uranium bomb would work, as well. The gamma output needs to be optimized by carefully selecting the casing, but that technology is not even classified anymore; it's on the Internet for all to see.