Energy Bombs (E-Bomb) Could FRY Baghdad

Popular Mechanics ^ | 9/01 | Popular Mechanics, Jim Wilson

[GRRRRR]

FOXNews, Shep---tonight he reviewed the "possibliity" that the US Military might have a nice new weapon, "E-Bombs"...that can be launched from miles away and via a cruise missle, deliver a HUGE Billion watt NOOODGE to an enemy city...

Oh, what fun--imagine every electronic circuit in all Baghdad totally FRIED! Nobody can get anywhere or do anything...Saddam and his body doubles trapped in bunkers because their electronic doors and security measures are non-responsive...ha ha ...

MORE--on this see below.

GRRRRRRollin'

The next Pearl Harbor will not announce itself with a searing flash of nuclear light or with the plaintive wails of those dying of Ebola or its genetically engineered twin. You will hear a sharp crack in the distance. By the time you mistakenly identify this sound as an innocent clap of thunder, the civilized world will have become unhinged. Fluorescent lights and television sets will glow eerily bright, despite being turned off. The aroma of ozone mixed with smoldering plastic will seep from outlet covers as electric wires arc and telephone lines melt. Your Palm Pilot and MP3 player will feel warm to the touch, their batteries overloaded. Your computer, and every bit of data on it, will be toast. And then you will notice that the world sounds different too. The background music of civilization, the whirl of internal-combustion engines, will have stopped. Save a few diesels, engines will never start again. You, however, will remain unharmed, as you find yourself thrust backward 200 years, to a time when electricity meant a lightning bolt fracturing the night sky. This is not a hypothetical, son-of-Y2K scenario. It is a realistic assessment of the damage the Pentagon believes could be inflicted by a new generation of weapons--E-bombs.

The first major test of an American electromagnetic bomb is scheduled for next year. Ultimately, the Army hopes to use E-bomb technology to explode artillery shells in midflight. The Navy wants to use the E-bomb's high-power microwave pulses to neutralize antiship missiles. And, the Air Force plans to equip its bombers, strike fighters, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles with E-bomb capabilities. When fielded, these will be among the most technologically sophisticated weapons the U.S. military establishment has ever built.

There is, however, another part to the E-bomb story, one that military planners are reluctant to discuss. While American versions of these weapons are based on advanced technologies, terrorists could use a less expensive, low-tech approach to create the same destructive power. "Any nation with even a 1940s technology base could make them," says Carlo Kopp, an Australian-based expert on high-tech warfare. "The threat of E-bomb proliferation is very real." POPULAR MECHANICS estimates a basic weapon could be built for $400.

An Old Idea Made New The theory behind the E-bomb was proposed in 1925 by physicist Arthur H. Compton--not to build weapons, but to study atoms. Compton demonstrated that firing a stream of highly energetic photons into atoms that have a low atomic number causes them to eject a stream of electrons. Physics students know this phenomenon as the Compton Effect. It became a key tool in unlocking the secrets of the atom. Ironically, this nuclear research led to an unexpected demonstration of the power of the Compton Effect, and spawned a new type of weapon. In 1958, nuclear weapons designers ignited hydrogen bombs high over the Pacific Ocean. The detonations created bursts of gamma rays that, upon striking the oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere, released a tsunami of electrons that spread for hundreds of miles. Street lights were blown out in Hawaii and radio navigation was disrupted for 18 hours, as far away as Australia. The United States set out to learn how to "harden" electronics against this electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and develop EMP weapons. America has remained at the forefront of EMP weapons development. Although much of this work is classified, it's believed that current efforts are based on using high-temperature superconductors to create intense magnetic fields. What worries terrorism experts is an idea the United States studied but discarded--the Flux Compression Generator (FCG). A Poor Man's E-Bomb An FCG is an astoundingly simple weapon. It consists of an explosives-packed tube placed inside a slightly larger copper coil, as shown below. The instant before the chemical explosive is detonated, the coil is energized by a bank of capacitors, creating a magnetic field. The explosive charge detonates from the rear forward. As the tube flares outward it touches the edge of the coil, thereby creating a moving short circuit. "The propagating short has the effect of compressing the magnetic field while reducing the inductance of the stator [coil]," says Kopp. "The result is that FCGs will produce a ramping current pulse, which breaks before the final disintegration of the device. Published results suggest ramp times of tens of hundreds of microseconds and peak currents of tens of millions of amps." The pulse that emerges makes a lightning bolt seem like a flashbulb by comparison. An Air Force spokesman, who describes this effect as similar to a lightning strike, points out that electronics systems can be protected by placing them in metal enclosures called Faraday Cages that divert any impinging electromagnetic energy directly to the ground. Foreign military analysts say this reassuring explanation is incomplete. The India Connection The Indian military has studied FCG devices in detail because it fears that Pakistan, with which it has ongoing conflicts, might use E-bombs against the city of Bangalore, a sort of Indian Silicon Valley. An Indian Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis study of E-bombs points to two problems that have been largely overlooked by the West. The first is that very-high-frequency pulses, in the microwave range, can worm their way around vents in Faraday Cages. The second concern is known as the "late-time EMP effect," and may be the most worrisome aspect of FCG devices. It occurs in the 15 minutes after detonation. During this period, the EMP that surged through electrical systems creates localized magnetic fields. When these magnetic fields collapse, they cause electric surges to travel through the power and telecommunication infrastructure. This string-of-firecrackers effect means that terrorists would not have to drop their homemade E-bombs directly on the targets they wish to destroy. Heavily guarded sites, such as telephone switching centers and electronic funds-transfer exchanges, could be attacked through their electric and telecommunication connections. Knock out electric power, computers and telecommunication and you've destroyed the foundation of modern society. In the age of Third World-sponsored terrorism, the E-bomb is the great equalizer.		In the 1980s, the Air Force tested E-bombs that used cruise-missile delivery systems. PHOTO BY AVIATION WEEK & AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY To ignite an E-bomb, a starter current energizes the stator coil, creating a magnetic field. The explosion (A) expands the tube, short-circuiting the coil and compressing the magnetic field forward (B). The pulse is emitted (C) at high frequencies that defeat protective devices like Faraday Cages. ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN BATCHELOR

[GRRRRR]

Ooops--fergot this pic from the article

This describes how the explosion moves down the coil, pushing the EM pulse infront of it...magnifying it and POOOF--out the end...LOL. G

[Cyclops08]

So much for those fancy GPS jammers the Russians sold the Iraqis. Hmmm. How many missiles will fire after one of these? Fry Baghdad, fry!

[_Jim]

Oh, what fun--imagine every electronic circuit in all Baghdad totally FRIED!

One of these isn't going to do all of Baghdad ...

[Poohbah]

This article fails to mention that E-bomb effects are EXTREMELY unpredictable--two identical computers hit by E-bombs will very likely suffer very different effects.

To get the effects to be reliable, you have to put out enough energy to not only cook computers, but also to cook people.

A far simpler way to create this effect is to detonate a strategic nuclear weapon in an medium-altitude airburst over Baghdad. Of course, you'll also fireball the entire damn city anyway...

[Arkie2]

fi sdfm er kefg kj nwoe lxzfsaovk sdkc lzdfwkjdmnczl ksadc

[GRRRRR]

Yeah..OK, so what?
Do we HAVE to rebuild Baghdad anyway?

Is that a rule or something, like once we beat the hell out of someone in a war, we gotta rebuild their stinking country?

Let the FRENCH do it...

G

[Fury]

A question from the ignorant. Are there practical measures one could take to minimize the damage to devices from this sort of weapon? For example, any sort of weapon that would be used to cause a surge, etc from a telecommunications or electrical connection - could damage be reduced by unplugging devices from these connections?

[Zack Nguyen]

I wonder how many other countries have this, if any. It would certainly be bad if a terrorist got hold of one.

[GRRRRR]

I fergot...what if they're running Linux?

[dark_lord]

Right. The thing is, human nervous systems work using electrochemical conduction. A strong enough EMP might cause some serious biological effects. We wouldn't want our first operational use to cause heart failure in 90% of a cities civilian population.

[Paul C. Jesup]

Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on the situation, the E-bomb will NOT work on the most popular and most widely use type of weapon on the face of the Earth; guns.

[GRRRRR]

Yup, just one thing

[k2blader]

Bump.

[Paul C. Jesup]

Good point. That is a real possibility, that is probably why they are not sure whether or not to use it.

[_Jim]

It would certainly be bad if a terrorist got hold of one.

Fortunately 'terrorists' a) don't have the brain power to put one of these things together and b) the stock/inventory of all US munitions are under some sort of 'inventory control' and supervision ...

FAR more damage could be done to redacted using simple rolls of redacted.

[Poohbah]

A question from the ignorant. Are there practical measures one could take to minimize the damage to devices from this sort of weapon?

Yes. Metal screening of the right pitch will block EMP. This is usually referred to as a "Faraday Cage."

For example, any sort of weapon that would be used to cause a surge, etc from a telecommunications or electrical connection - could damage be reduced by unplugging devices from these connections?

Yes, but you lose the use of the device.

A more like scenario is to leave the device operating inside a Faraday cage, operating off of a battery or generator inside the cage. Signal inputs are made via fiber-optic links. The fiber-optic converters outside the cage may have to be replaced, but that's MUCH easier than replacing your entire telecom infrastructure.

[Paul C. Jesup]

I'm afraid that is not going to be enough. I mean you will have to have solid lead shielding to protect your eletronics.

[Poohbah]

Right. The thing is, human nervous systems work using electrochemical conduction. A strong enough EMP might cause some serious biological effects. We wouldn't want our first operational use to cause heart failure in 90% of a cities civilian population.

Actually, it WOULD kill anybody with a pacemaker.

A strong enough EMP would actually microwave-cook you in an instant.

[_Jim]

could damage be reduced by unplugging devices from these connections

Proper construction of critical facilities would employ AC line filters and surge surpressors on the 'AC Mains' to begin with -

- followed up by a judicious use of a finer-grade of 'chicken wire' mesh in the walls of a 'data processing' complex (IF located in a standard above-ground office complex - go under ground some ways and this isn't necessary) ...