They still teach these to pilots today.
Posted on 12/27/2006 7:40:27 AM PST by pabianice
December 27, 2006: Iran continues to predict the imminent destruction of Israel, and promises to do what it can to help make that happen. Israel responds with dark threats of countermeasures that will prevent Iranian plans from working. Most people think that the most likely Israeli response is air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. But Israel has another weapon available, but one with serious side effects. Israel has a satellite launch capability that could put a nuclear weapon in low orbit (about 200 kilometers up). Once over Iran, the nuclear bomb could be detonated, and create an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse), which would destroy most of the military and civilian electronics in Iran. That would be a major setback to the Iranian nuclear weapons program, and the Iranian economy. There would be ugly side effects. The nuclear blast would also create a temporary belt of intense radiation, which would destroy or damage many of the low earth orbit satellites up there. There would be $100 billion, or more, in damage to these satellites, and several years of disrupted communications, GPS and weather prediction service until all the damaged satellites could be replaced. It's this collateral damage, more than anything else, that protects Iran from this kind of attack.
Then again, what's to prevent Iran or North Korea from setting off a nuke in low orbit, just to mess up everyone's satellites? Sounds like a great extortion opportunity. This is one reason more and more satellites are being hardened to resist the kind of radiation surge high altitude EMP would produce. But most of the stuff in low orbit is not hardened, and even the birds that are so protected, are not invulnerable to EMP, just less vulnerable.
It's been a long time since we, as a nation, have felt that our very existence is threatened. I think once we reach that point it will not be as difficult as we think to make it very clear to the rest of the world that we are tired of being their scapegoat, sugar daddy, door mat, etc. Tell 'em what you're gonna do, do it, and then tell 'em what you've done. Repeat as needed.
I think we are deserving of the love and adulation of most peoples on Earth, but failing in that I'll settle for them fearing us enough to be deterred from messing with us.
Some of what was called "dead reckoning" in my day. It meant "reckon right or you're dead."
They still teach these to pilots today.
Yes. I would totally settle for them thinking we are truly psycho and not to be tampered with in any way.
> I do wonder if LORAN could be brought back <
Sure. It could be brought back fairly easily. No big deal. The trouble would be, however, that Loran is a radio system -- meaning it's vulnerable to EMP just like any other radio equipment.
Good post!
> The people of Iran do not want their leaders, nor the religious nuts that run the country. They would do the rest <
But what about the fact that students and other dissidents in Iran now depend heavily on the Internet to communicate among themselves and to organize protests? If we put the Iranian communications systems out of operation, then our action may cripple our friends in that country as well as our enemies.
Wow, I have one of those in my old pilot's bag, long since replaced by newer technologies. Maybe it will be worth a lot of money when it's the only way to navigate again.
Seriously, we are just so very vulnerable on so many fronts. The only answer is to work our way back up the food chain until we get as near the head the snake as possible and then destroy it or do as much damage as we can.
Thanks, good to know.
According to the information I read (NOT VERIFIED) you can make a "field expedient" small one by lining the inside of a cardboard box with aluminum foil. I haven't tried it though because EMP's aren't available at Home Depot.
Since they're already in the stone age, what came before that and how do we get them there?
That's a large part of the problem. They are simply not impressed by the same things we are. If you want to modify someone's behavior then you have to deal with them in terms they understand and respect or fear. Dealing with them using methods that seem appropriate to you will not work. Everyone has their price, and sometimes it's pretty shocking just how low that price is as long as it offered in a currency the feel is valuable. Thus the old term "worth his salt".
That would not help in a true EMP event. Enclosing a radio and other vital electronics in waterproof container and storing it 15 feet underwater will however.
This makes no sense. EMP is strictly an atmospheric effect. Satellites would be immune (and they are hardened by necessity anyway). However, the controlling ground stations (if unshielded) would not be.
LN 20 and LN 120 are celestial navigation systems on board some air force airplanes. I worked on them. Cool systems that can do star tracking in the middle of the day. We can find and track 50 stars, and when you tell the box exactly what time it is it tells you pretty damn exactly where you are. Cant say exactly how accurate it is, but you could find the right building with no problem.
I wish they had a directed EMP weapon for home use. The house next to me became a rental. Seems like 15 people living in a small house. They blast mexican music all day long.
Google "HERF Gun".
You nailed that!
Several EMP delivery devices exist which are non nuclear and can easily wreck a nations electrical/com grid in Troposphere -Earths surface to 14 klms plus avg.
[Directed-energy technology is ready to be used as weaponry and, in a mature state, one device carried by an unmanned aircraft could attack each of 100 targets with 1,000 pulses of energy in a single sortie, says a former director of the U.S. Air Force's high-power microwave program.
"Except for the standard rifle, gun, knife or grenade, virtually all military equipment contains some electronics" that are vulnerable to a large pulse of energy, wrote Air Force Col. Eileen M. Walling. "Military commanders are in a state of virtually total dependence on radios, telephones, satellite communications, computers and faxes for communication with military units." Other targets include artillery targeting devices, guidance and control on precision munitions, and even locomotive engines. She also suggests HPM could be used to protect U.S. satellites and attack those of a foe without creating clouds of debris that could damage other spacecraft.
Having spent most of her career working on directed-energy technology issues, she wrote a research paper on what she considers an underrated weapons technology. Entitled "High Power Microwaves: Strategic and Operational Implications for Warfare," it was published by the Air University's center for strategy and technology in early 2000. Walling is now a division chief in Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
"The projected maximum capability for a microwave [armed] UCAV is approximately 100,000 pulses of microwave energy (or shots) per mission," Walling wrote. "If one assumes 1,000 pulses per target, it is conceivable that a microwave UCAV could attack on the order of 100 targets per mission. In addition, a microwave system could be used to protect the UCAV from enemy missiles [even] if the enemy has the ability to detect low-observable aircraft."
HPM also affects a larger area than a bomb, but without harming physical structures or people. A 1-ton bomb creates damage in a radius of about 120 ft. "The footprint of a microwave munition is at least 100 times greater than that of a conventional munition," the report states. That may be a bloated number if applied to developmental weapons currently available for use against Iraq, according to other U.S. officials. They usually describe effects in terms of a few thousand feet or less. In fact, the primary stumbling block for directed-energy weapons is achieving sufficient range and power levels to be effective.
U.S. MILITARY RESEARCH laboratories have demonstrated HPM effects ranging from upsetting to destroying the electronics within military and commercial systems, Walling noted. The paper's conclusion, made more than two years ago, is that "high-power microwave technology is ready for the transition to active weapons in the U.S. military." Both Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the chief of U.S. Air Forces, Europe, Gen. Gregory Martin, have said publicly that unspecified new developmental weapons technology could be used in an attack on Iraq. Facilities that manufacture, store or dispense chemical, biological and nuclear weapons are a "target set" particularly earmarked for energy weapons, according to statements made this summer and fall by U.S. aerospace industry officials. Conventional attacks could leave plumes of lethal agents adrift.
HPM devices have great potential both as offensive and defensive weapons, Walling said. She cited a 1998 Air Force survey--"Directed-Energy Applications for Tacti cal Airborne Combat"--that found the top four priorities were for microwave weapons (instead of lasers) in the areas of precision-guided munitions, large aircraft self-protection shields, small aircraft self-protection shields and as weapons for unmanned combat air vehicles. As a munition, some developmental systems are believed to be ready for combat in Iraq. Boeing plans to build an HPM weapon into the Block 30 version of its X-45 UCAV.
These weapons also could be built into a pod for carriage on a helicopter or packaged as artillery shells, scatterable mines and 1-ton bombs, the report said. As a defensive system, it contends HPM devices could ward off infrared- and radar-guided missiles. A phased-array antenna allows for rapid retargeting.
The report quickly ticks off the advantages of HPM weapons: They don't rely on exact knowledge of the enemy system. They leave persisting effects in enemy targets that may take weeks to find and repair. Even if enemy systems are turned off, they are still affected. And to counter HPM, the entire system must be hardened, which is a very expensive process.
An energy pulse can get into an enemy system by the "front door," which means its own antenna, dome or other sensor opening; or through the "back door," which includes cracks, seams, trailing wires, metal conduits of seals. Once inside, the emissions can destroy or disrupt integrated circuits, circuit cards and relay switches. The system's own electronic circuitry transmits the pulse, and resulting damage, even deeper into the system.
In the microwave technical community, the ability to scale or increase the effects is often described as "dial a hurt," Walling said. Results depend on the distance between the HPM weapon and the target, the vulnerability of the target, the power generated, and the characteristics of the microwave emission including frequency, burst rate and pulse duration. A rough scale describes four levels of effects:
* Deny, which involves electronic upset or jamming. It might cause malfunctions within relay and processing circuits.
* Degrade, which involves locking up a system or limiting its capabilities enough to require rebooting. It can include signal override or turning power on and off at irregular intervals.
* Damage, which includes permanent effects that "latch up" a system. This can mean damage to components, circuit cards or mother boards, as wells as weeks to diagnose and repair the problems. Because microwaves can enter through multiple entry points, it is likely numerous circuits and components will be damaged.
* Destroy, which means catastrophic and permanent injury to the system, requiring total replacement.
ANTENNA TECHNOLOGY is crucial for HPM weapons. Field of view for the phased-array emitter is expected to vary from several to tens of degrees. The multi-element design allows it to be built conformally into a pod or UCAV. Because it doesn't require precise aiming, there are far fewer stringent pointing and tracking requirements, Walling said. The microwaves' cone could offer a means to attack multiple targets at once; for example, all of the equipment in an antiaircraft missile site.
The range of HPM weapons has always been a concern. Tests have shown effects at tens to "more than" hundreds of feet. Walling seemed more optimistic. "With current technology, the range for a tactical microwave weapon could be in the tens of kilometers, and future advances . . . should permit the development of even longer ranges," the report said.
Other advantages cited for HPM weapons are that they would be immune to the weather and could produce multiple shots on a single mission. However, the report also alludes to single-shot designs. These latter seem to address concerns that side and back lobes from the generation of an HPM pulse could affect the carrying aircraft's own electronics.
Power levels for HPM weapons are increasing. The report said one microwave source weighing less that 45 lb. radiated 1 gigawatt of power within a few nanoseconds. A 400-lb. system radiated 20 gigawatts. The report noted that Hoover Dam generates 2 gigawatts per day. The HPM weapon would draw power from the air vehicle's engines, which would let it make a number of attacks during a mission. -End
I have heard rumors of EMP being used in the NATO campaign against Serbia to knock out radar systems.
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