Is The U.S. Prepared For An EMP War?

Jeff Thompson, The Organic Prepper: Why Isn’t the US Preparing for EMP War Like the Rest of the World?  

You’re likely already familiar with the 2009 EMP Commission Report. It was this report that raised the issue of EMP-preparedness for the American public. It’s notorious stating that just one year after an EMP attack, 90% of the American population would be dead, caused alarm throughout multiple sectors of society. 

Books began to be written on the subject. Sales of Tedd Koppel’s Lights Out, Forstchen’s One Second After, and Crawford’s Lights Out quickly reached blockbuster levels. And while I believe that these books (and that report) brought the issue of an electromagnetic pulse to light for Americans, I don’t believe it showed Americans just how real of a threat it is. To truly understand just how very real of a risk this is, I believe all we have to do is look at the battle plans of some of the nations that hate America most.  

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WNU Editor: Back in the former Soviet Union we were all taught on how to survive a SHTF (Shit Hits The Fan) situation. This included an EMP or nuclear attack, and the focus was always on being prepared. 

On reflection .... we were all taught on how to be preppers. 

I have carried that way of thinking to my new life in Canada, and I have even gone the extra mile because of the pandemic. 

Besides my home I have another place to run to in the event of a major disaster or EMP attack. At both places I have enough food, provisions, and water to take care of my family for a year and maybe longer. I have enough wood to feed my fireplace to keep all of us warm in winter. Ditto with propane for cooking and a simple but portable solar power system that will feed me with enough electricity to keep some the basics running. 

I have enough ammo for my shotgun to defeat a zombie army (or desperate strangers), and I just recently purchased a crossbow. An emp pulse may take-out the electronics for my modern car, but my second car is a 1990 GM Caprice that I have maintained and is always topped up with gas (yeah .... it looks like a big boat with four wheels when it is on the highway). 

Of course .... none of my neighbors/friends/associates are as prepared as I am. and I suspect that aside from the military, no one in the government is prepared either. Which is shocking because the Canadian province of Quebec did experience 20 years ago an event that knocked out its power grid for a good period of time in the middle of winter. I should know because I was there experiencing it first hand  (January 1998 North American ice storm). Everyone survived, but times were tough. But I am happy to say that because of our preparations, the impact on us was minimal. 

As for my family/friends/and associates back home in Russia. LOL. Their preps makes mine look pathetic. 

But it is not an EMP attack that I am worried about. I am more worried about a natural solar event knocking out our grid. It happened before (The Carrington Event), and it will happen again.

U.S. Air Force To Test Its Infrastructure Against A Simulated EMP Attack At Joint Base San Antonio In Lackland, Texas

A right front view of an E-4 advanced airborne command post (AABNCP) on the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) simulator for the testing. Wikimedia 

NextGov: Air Force Base Prepping for EMP Vulnerability Tests 

In response to a Trump administration executive order, Joint Base San Antonio is getting ready to test its infrastructure against a simulated electromagnetic pulse attack.

An Air Force base in Texas is getting ready to test its infrastructure against an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, attack and needs to do preliminary site surveys to design future tests. 

Officials at Joint Base San Antonio in Lackland, Texas issued a request for quote for an EMP-tailored survey of the Petroleum, Oil and Lubrication, or POL, complex, which consists of multiple buildings in two areas of the base connected by an underground pipeline. 

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WNU Editor: The U.S. Air Force is hardening some of its key aircraft .... Air Force Wants to Harden the B-2 Bomber to Withstand an EMP Attack (Military.com).

China Has Developed EMP Weapons That Can Fry The US Electric Grid Through A High-Tech ‘Pearl Harbor’ Attack

Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner: China develops weapons to fry US electric grid, eyes high-tech ‘Pearl Harbor’ attack

With the help of stolen U.S. technology, China has developed at least three types of high-tech weapons to attack the electric grid and key technologies in a “surprise Pearl Harbor” assault that could send America into a deadly blackout, according to a new analysis.

According to the report from the independent EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security, China has built a network of satellites, high-speed missiles, and “super-electromagnetic pulse” weapons that could melt down the U.S. electric network, fry critical communications, and stifle aircraft carrier groups.

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Update #1: China's surprise, years in the planning: An EMP attack (Peter Pry, The Hill)
Update #2: US Report Claims China Intends Nuclear First Strike With Stolen Super-EMP Weapons (Sputnik)

WNU Editor: The EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security's report on China's EMP capabilities is here .... CHINA: EMP THREAT - The People’s Republic of China Military Doctrine, Plans, and Capabilities forElectromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack

Report: America's Nuclear Plants Are Not Prepared For An EMP Attack

Paul Bedard, Washington Examiner: Feds fear EMP 'meltdown' of nuclear power plants

The federal government’s new focus on preventing disaster in a natural or terrorist electromagnetic pulse attack is drawing attention to a lack of testing and preparation at the nation’s nuclear power plants, where a resulting meltdown could cause radiation deaths.

ucked into the back of a new report from the Electromagnetic Defense Task Force compiled to highlight the EMP threat to U.S. infrastructure and military installations, the nation’s nuclear regulators admitted that the electric generating plants are not prepared for an attack.

What’s more, they don’t know how deadly an attack would be or how far the radioactive “plume” from a meltdown would extend and suggested instead that deaths would first come from an inability to find food and clean water.

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WNU Editor: I do not think any nuclear plant in the world is prepared for an emp attack. If the equipment that you use to cool your nuclear reactor core is disrupted because of an emp event, there will be a very real possibility of a meltdown. And why focus on a man made emp attacks. The sun has a history of ejecting solar flares that can disrupt electronics. What happens if there is a massive flare that is the equivalent of an emp attack. The report is here.

President Trump Orders Agencies To Protect The U.S. From An EMP Attack

The Hill: Trump signs executive order on protecting US from potential EMP attacks

President Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order directing federal agencies to identify the threats posed by potential electromagnetic pulses (EMP), which are believed to be potentially dangerous to critical infrastructure like the electric grid, and find ways to guard against them.

Senior administration officials told reporters during a call Tuesday that the order will direct federal agencies to coordinate in assessing the threats that EMPs pose, and find ways to prevent their impact. An EMP is a burst of electromagnetic energy that can be caused by a nuclear weapon or solar storms.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that the order will create an environment "that promotes private-sector innovation to strengthen our critical infrastructure."

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WNU Editor: I would be more worried from a natural emp event rather than a man-made one .... How We'll Safeguard Earth From a Solar Storm Catastrophe (NBC).

More News On U.S. President Trump Ordering Agencies To Protect The U.S. From An EMP Attack

Trump signs executive order to protect the US from a 'debilitating' EMP attack -- Business Insider
Trump orders historic plan to thwart EMP, warns attack would be ‘debilitating’ -- Washington Examiner
Trump orders feds to study risks of electromagnetic pulse -- NYPost
Trump Orders Study on Risks of Electromagnetic Weapon Attack -- Bloomberg

China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran Are Making EMP Weapons

Washington Free Beacon: China, Russia Building Super-EMP Bombs for ‘Blackout Warfare’

Report reveals electromagnetic war scenarios

Several nations, including China and Russia, are building powerful nuclear bombs designed to produce super-electromagnetic pulse (EMP) waves capable of devastating all electronics—from computers to electric grids—for hundreds of miles, according to a newly-released congressional study.

A report by the now-defunct Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from EMP Attack, for the first time reveals details on how nuclear EMP weapons are integrated into the military doctrines of China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

The report discloses how those states could use EMP attacks in theaters of battle in the Middle East, Far East, Europe, and North America.

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WNU Editor: I am always skeptical of these reports. Especially when they make the claim that Iran is only one year from manufacturing such a nuclear weapon. I also do not accept the position that an EMP attack would NOT be treated as a nuclear attack. If an EMP weapon is used, it will be treated as an attack that would be quickly followed by a real nuclear attack. In that situation, the question would then be "who would then launch an overwhelming nuclear strike first".

Pentagon Warns That An EMP Attack Could Wipe Out America

Washington Examiner: Military warns EMP attack could wipe out America, 'democracy, world order'

In an extraordinary and sobering report meant to educate the nation on a growing threat, a new military study warns that an electromagnetic pulse weapon attack such as those developed by North Korea, Russia, and Iran could essentially challenge the United States and displace millions.

“Based on the totality of available data,” said the report from the Air Force’s Air University and provided to Secrets, “an electromagnetic spectrum attack may be a threat to the United States, democracy, and the world order.”

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WNU Editor: America will survive. The report is here .... Electromagnetic Defense Task Force.

Would A North Korean EMP Attack On The U.S. Kill 90 Per Cent Of Its Population?

Our civilisation — and our lives — is only as resilient as our power grid, insists a US nuclear warfare expert.Source:Supplied

News.com.au: This is the apocalypse North Korea wants to unleash

DAY Zero: the lights go out, planes fall from the sky. Year One: 90 per cent of the US population is dead. This could be the nightmare of a North Korean attack.

IT wouldn’t happen overnight. But it could happen.

A new report to the US Congress warns one or two nuclear weapons detonated high in the atmosphere above the country would — within a few months and years — lead to the death of 90 per cent of the country’s population.

It’s a worst-case post-apocalyptic nightmare scenario common to computer games and movies.

Nothing would work anymore.

Society would collapse.

The rule of the gun will replace the rule of law.

And it’s exactly what North Korea has been threatening.

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WNU Editor: Would an EMP attack on the U.S. kill 90% of its population .... no. I lived through the Montreal ice storm of 1998 where the entire electrical grid collapsed. In my home we had no electricity for 8 days .... and on the last two days the temperature outside was -20C (inside it was around 5C). Some had no power for a month. We all survived. We all did not go hungry. There were no roving bands of marauders outside. What we had was people helping each other .... finding ways to communicate and making ends meet. The same would happen in the U.S. if an EMP wipes out a good part of the grid. Times would be tough for about a year or two .... the world would be in an economic depression and a financial crisis .... but guess what ..... we will survive. Now for the North Koreans .... you can take this to the bank .... they will be experiencing something far worse.

Is North Korea Developing An EMP Weapon?

A satellite photo of Korea illustrates the South’s dependence on electricity. PHOTO: NASA

Henry F. Cooper, WSJ: North Korea Dreams of Turning Out the Lights

Pyongyang doesn’t need a perfect missile. Detonating a nuke above Seoul—or L.A.—would sow chaos.

Conventional wisdom holds that it will be years before North Korea can credibly threaten the United States with a nuclear attack. Kim Jong Un’s scientists are still testing only low-yield nuclear weapons, the thinking goes, and have yet to place them on ballistic missiles capable of reaching America’s West Coast.

While its technological shortcomings have been well documented, North Korea’s desire to provoke a nuclear conflict with the U.S. should not be minimized or ignored. Pyongyang is surely close to getting it right.

For South Korea the danger is more immediate. According to physicist David Albright, the founder and president of the Institute for Science and International Security, the North Koreans have between 13 and 30 nuclear weapons and can build as many as five more every year. If Mr. Kim were to detonate one of these bombs in the atmosphere 40 miles above Seoul, it could inflict catastrophic damage on South Korea’s electric power grid, leading to a prolonged blackout that could have deadly consequences.

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WNU Editor: Any detonation of a nuclear device by North Korea .... even an EMP device .... would be seen as a declaration of war. The failure of the electrical grid would be at the bottom of everyone's list on what to worry.

Is Iran Planning A Nuclear EMP Attack Against The United States?

Washington Examiner: Iran endorses nuclear EMP attack on United States

Suspected for years of plotting to dismantle the U.S. electric grid, American officials have confirmed that Iranian military brass have endorsed a nuclear electromagnetic pulse explosion that would attack the country's power system.

American defense experts made the discovery while translating a secret Iranian military handbook, raising new concerns about Tehran's recent nuclear talks with the administration.

The issue of a nuclear EMP attack was raised in the final hours of this week's elections in Israel when U.S. authority Peter Vincent Pry penned a column for Arutz Sheva warning of Iran's threat to free nations.

WNU Editor: So .... a secret Iranian military handbook talks about plans to launch an EMP attack against the U.S. .... that's it? The Pentagon has plans to counter an alien invasion .... does that mean that aliens are planning to invade earth? Critics of the ongoing U.S. - Iranian talks are going to need more information and evidence than this if they want to put a stop to these negotiations.

U.S. Homeland Security: North Korea Capable Of Striking The U.S. With A Nuclear EMP Attack

According to a classified report leaked recently, North Korea can destroy United States with Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse Attack. (Photo: Reuters)

North Korea Capable Of Destroying United States With Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse Attack: Report -- IBTimes

A classified report from the US Department of Homeland Security for the Defense Department, which suggests that North Korea has the capacity to launch a Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse Attack to destroy the whole of Unites States, has been leaked.

The report remains blocked from release to the American public, but a copy was obtained by Peter Vincent Pry, the executive director of the congressional advisory Task Force on National and Homeland Security, who revealed the details of the report to WND Politics news website.

The classified report finds that North Korea could use its Unha-3 space launch vehicle to deliver a nuclear warhead as a satellite over the South Pole, to attack the US from the southern direction.

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Update #1: Kim's secret weapon: North Korea 'is capable of striking U.S. with a nuclear electromagnetic pulse attack' -- Daily Mail
Update #2: DHS study: North Korea capable of EMP attack on U.S. -- WND

My Comment: There has been no response from the U.S. government on this leaked report.

Is Iran Preparing An EMP Attack Against The U.S.?

Ballistic missile fired during Iranian war games (illustrative). Reuters

Expert: Iran Ships A Dry Run For Later Nuclear/EMP Attack; Humiliate Obama -- Washington Examiner

Iran's surprising decision to move warships off the Atlantic coast poses a potential catastrophic threat to America from a nuclear or electromagnetic pulse attack, according to an expert who foresaw Iran's move.

Peter Pry, an expert on EMP attacks, said the ships are likely a dry run for a future attack, a maneuver meant to lull Washington into complacency while also embarrassing President Obama and his effort to convince Tehran to give up production of a nuclear bomb in return for a lifting of some economic sanctions.

“Yes, patrols by the Iranian Navy off our coasts could pose threat of a surprise EMP attack,” said Pry, who with others such as former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, has convinced several state legislatures to take moves to harden their electric and energy grids from EMP attack because Washington won't.

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More News On Reports That Iran Is Preparing An EMP Attack Against The U.S.

Approaching Iranian warships raise EMP threat -- WND
Iran Bomb Threat Debated By EMP And National Security Experts -- Inquisitr
Members of Congress, Fmr. CIA Director Discuss Iran 'EMP Threat' -- Arutz Sheva
Glenn Beck says this fictional series about an Iranian attack ‘is the most incredible story that Americans should read’ -- The Blaze

My Comment: I am skeptical of these claims. If such an attack should occur .... I have confidence that  the U.S. will find out who was responsible and the retaliation will be massive. For Iran .... there is zero cost benefit in pulling such a stunt .... even if the religious extremists conduct it for their own personal reasons.

U.S. Report: China Will Use EMP Weapons Against The US

In Any Cross-Strait War China Will Use EMP Weapons Against US: Report -- Want China Times

China is likely to mobilize electromagnetic pulse weapons against the United States in any potential war over the Taiwan strait, according to a report prepared by F. Michael Maloof, a retired US defense department official for the WorldNetDaily, a conservative news website based in Washington.

Given the possibility that the United States Navy will deploy its aircraft carrier to the Western Pacific in the event of China entering into a territorial conflict with Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines over the East and South China Sea or launching any potential military action against Taiwan, Maloof indicated that the People's Liberation Army is looking to use the electromagnetic pulse weapons as part of a "one-two punch" to knock out the defensive electronics aboard the US vessels.

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My Comment: If China explodes a nuclear device to generate an EMP pulse .... the assumption in Asia/U.S./and else where is that China is about to use the rest of it's nuclear arsenal. In such a scenario .... U.S. nuclear command will be only one step from launching it's own retaliatory strike against the Chinese mainland.

Did The World Escape An EMP Catastrophe?

Massive Solar Flare Narrowly Misses Earth, EMP Disaster Barely Avoided -- Washington Examiner

The earth barely missed taking a massive solar punch in the teeth two weeks ago, an "electromagnetic pulse" so big that it could have knocked out power, cars and iPhones throughout the United States.

Two EMP experts told Secrets that the EMP flashed through earth's typical orbit around the sun about two weeks before the planet got there.

"The world escaped an EMP catastrophe," said Henry Cooper, who led strategic arms negotiations with the Soviet Union under President Reagan, and who now heads High Frontier, a group pushing for missile defense.

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My Comment: I expect that one day we will have an EMP event that will shut down the electrical and communications grid. Will it be a disaster? Hmmmm .... on this question I am skeptical.

I live in Montreal, and I have also lived through the ice storm of 1998 that shut down a good part of the electrical grid of this city .... in my case I had no power for almost 8 days. In a certain way the City of Montreal was hit with an event that mimicked what an emp event will cause .... no electricity. When this happened it was winter .... it was also very cold outside (we had temperatures reaching -20C at night a few days later) .... but here is the surprise .... we all survived. We all helped each other .... crime actually decreased .... and while life was uncomfortable the entire city did manage to do what they could do to keep essential services running (i.e. hospitals and some transportation grids), setting up emergency shelters, and taking care of those who could not take care of themselves, etc.. After a few weeks .... everything was back to normal

With this experience I can easily say that a global EMP event will be a hit .... but it will not be a catastrophe. It will take time to recover and life will be tough .... but we will recover .... and in a few months everything will be back to normal.

Protecting The Nation's Electricity Grid From A Solar Flare Or An EMP Device

Lights Out: House Plan Would Protect Nation's Electricity From Solar Flare, Nuclear Bomb -- Washington Examiner

Amid growing fears of a massive electromagnetic pulse hit from either a solar flare or a terrorist nuclear bomb, House Republicans on Tuesday will unveil a plan to save the nation's electric grid from an attack that could mean lights out for 300 million Americans.

Dubbed the Secure High-voltage Infrastructure for Electricity from Lethal Damage Act, the legislation would push the federal government to install grid-saving devices such as surge protectors to protect against an attack.

"It is critical that we protect our major transformers from cascading destruction. The Shield Act encourages industry to develop standards necessary to protect our electric infrastructure against both natural and man-made EMP events," said Rep. Trent Franks, the Arizona Republican who is offering up the bipartisan bill.

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My Comment: If a group had a nuclear weapon and wanted to make a point .... an EMP explosion is probably not the route that they would choose .... they would explode it (mushroom cloud and all), and be done with it. But to protect the electrical grid from a solar flare .... now that does make sense. After-all .... if we were to experience the massive solar flare of 1859 (the "Carrington Flare") today .... that will probably be a catastrophe .

Boeing Creates The First Working EMP Missile

From Sci-Fi To Reality: The Computer-Blitzing Drone That Can Cripple A Nation's Electronics At The Touch Of A Button -- Daily Mail

* Aircraft manufacturer Boeing have created a weapon that can knock out computers
* The missile is thought to be able to penetrate bunkers and caves
* Experts warn, in the wrong hands, could bring Western cities to their knees

Down the years and across the universe, the heroes of science-fiction classics from Dan Dare to Star Wars and The Matrix have fought intergalactic battles with weapons that wipe out enemy electronics at the touch of a button.

Now scientists have turned fantasy into reality by developing a missile that targets buildings with microwaves that disable computers but don’t harm people.

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing successfully tested the weapon on a one-hour flight during which it knocked out the computers of an entire military compound in the Utah desert.

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More News on the first Working EMP Missile

Cyber Warfare: Missile Can Cripple Computers -- SKY News
Boeing Tests A Missile That Knocks Out A Building's Power [Video] -- Popular Science
CHAMP Missile Could Shut Down the Electronics of the Country Permanently: Boeing -- Avionics
Missile to disable a country’s electronics -- Economic Times
A missile that only destroys electronics! -- EETimes
Boeing Has Created A Drone That Can Cripple An Entire Nation’s Computers At The Touch Of A Button [Photos] -- Inquistr
A CHAMP At Destroying Electronics -- Strategy Page
New Targeting Missile Would Knock Out Enemy’s Electronics -- Heritage Foundation

Is North Korea Developing An EMP Weapon?

Inside The Ring: North Korean EMP -- Washington Times

Recent satellite navigation jamming by North Korea’s military near the demilitarized zone and a report in a Chinese journal are raising new fears that Pyongyang is developing electromagnetic pulse weapons.

A communist-owned monthly journal in Hong Kong reported last month that the GPS jamming of aircraft navigation systems that was traced to North Korea is part of asymmetric warfare capabilities of the reclusive communist state.

The Bauhinia journal article, by military commentator Li Daguang said the new capabilities threaten South Korea’s information and electronic warfare capabilities.

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My Comment: This is actually old news. ABC News reported on this story last year.

Is Britain Vulnerable To An E-Bomb Attack

A Russian Topol-12M mobile nuclear missile. In the worst case scenario, a nuclear missile could be fired in to space that would release a pulse large enough to paralyse Britain’s infrastructure, defence experts will warn today. Photo: REUTERS

Britain Vulnerable To E-Bomb Attack, Experts To Warn -- The Telegraph

Britain needs to spend money on building defences against an “E-bomb” that would explode in the upper atmosphere and knock out all electronic communication and power, the Defence Secretary will say today.

Phillip Hammond will tell a conference that money needs to be spent on defences that “cannot be seen on the parade ground.”

Dependence on electronic networks “creates vulnerability” he will say, adding that the response cannot be based on “infantry, or jet planes or destroyers.”

There is an increasing possibility that a rogue state could use an “E-bomb” that would release a devastating electromagnetic pulse (EMP), experts will tell a two-day conference in London.

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My Comment: Britain has other more pressing concerns to spend money on than spending money (that they do not have) on a threat that may (or may not) exist.

Update: Electromagnetic pulses in history -- The Telegraph

Britain Warned About Space Attacks (And Solar Storms)

A Russian Topol-12M mobile nuclear missile. A nuclear device detonated 500 miles above the earth could produce a crippling electro-magnetic pulse, MPs have warned. Photo: REUTERS

Britain At Risk From 'GoldenEye' Electromagnetic Pulse Attack From Space, MPs Warn -- The Telegraph

Britain's critical national infrastructure could be crippled in a high-altitude space attack by a rogue state or terrorists, MPs have warned.

A nuclear device detonated up to 500 miles above the earth's surface could generate an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) with a "devastating" effect on power supplies, telecommunications and other vital systems, the Commons Defence Committee said.

It warned that countries such as Iran - which is resisting international pressure to end its nuclear programme - and even eventually some "non-state actors" could acquire the technology to mount such an attack, in a scenario akin to the plot of the 1995 James Bond film 'GoldenEye'.

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More News On British Concerns Of Space Weapons And Solar Storms

Terror bomb detonated in space 'could cripple Britain's electronic networks and jeopardise national security' -- Daily Mail
MPs warn over nuclear space bombs and solar flares -- BBC
UK vulnerable to 'space weather events' and space-fired weapons, say MPs -- The Guardian
'Complacent' MoD Warned Of Space Risk -- SKY News
MPs: MoD must take threat of nuclear attack from space seriously -- The Sun
MPs ask for defence against space attacks on UK -- The Inquirer
Britain at risk from electromagnetic pulse weapons warn MPs -- TNT
Electromagnetic pulses in history -- The Telegraph
Electromagnetic pulses explained -- The Telegraph

Is China Testing An EMP Weapon Directed At Taiwan?

Report: China Was Testing For EMP Attack On Taiwan -- Commentary

According to a declassified 2005 report released last week, China had been testing the effects of an electromagnetic pulse attack–the detonation of a nuclear device at high altitude to maximize the area affected by the EMP–possibly meant for Taiwan. According to the report, China was actually testing two kinds of nuclear blasts and the effects the resulting radiation would have on humans. (China was testing them on animals, which experienced “high mortality rates.”)

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My Comment: More background information on China's EMP progran can be found here, and here.