Very interesting testimony by Mr. Woolsey:
“The U.S. electric grid and other civilian critical infrastructures — for example, communications, transportation, banking and finance, food and water — have never been hardened to survive EMP.”
It’s the same reason a cyber war will disproportionately hurt America compared to Russia, China, or North Korea… most of the infrastructure is owned and operated by private business. It cuts into the profit margin to harden against something that will likely never happen.
So to protect infrastructure, we need more regulation. Conservatives, ever the champions of private business with less regulation and a small federal government, won’t do it. Liberals don’t think it’ll ever happen with their often rose colored glasses, so they won’t do it either.
There are certain benefits that those with little freedom enjoy, and the ability to unilaterally force profit loss in the name of security is one of them.
However, I do find a successful emp attack unlikely unless in a time of war, and even then only China and Russia have the capability. China would never attack America, they have too much to lose. And they definitely wouldn’t attack with any sort of nuclear weapon, and neither would Russia.
I don’t find North Korea or Iran smuggling a SCUD with nuclear warhead to Mexico or Canada very plausible, and they have to know that they’d be the only half-decent suspects… and they have to know that critical military facilities ARE hardened. Their countries wouldn’t be long for this world if they did something like that.
It an EMP attack was going to be pulled off, I’d think it would have to be done with something like this…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbUU_9bOcnM
Ballistic/cruise missiles packed in shipping containers is some scary shit. Posing as a merchant vessel and firing from just off the coast in international waters, there’d be less that 5 minutes warning of an attack…
I just read both volumes of EMP: Equipping Modern Patriots, and that’s the exact scenario that plays out. A missile launched from a shipping container in the Gulf of Mexico.
A Carrington Event is far more likely than an EMP nuke because to do that would be suicide.
HELL NO it aint. We’ve had two near misses from the sun alone this year. And, after reading ONE SECOND AFTER…I learned two things: 1. How so unbelievably easy it would be to set us…U.S. …back a couple hundred years. 2. How so unprepared & vulnerable we are right now against this attack, natural or terrorist caused doesn’t matter.
And if roque agents carried this out…how & against whom would/could the U.S. attack?
StraightShooter, great book you reference. Another great one is Crawford’s Lights Out.
As indicated, the EMP effect does not have to come from a nuke, it can be completely natural. Although it is unlikely, it is still a threat.
That’s a great book.
Since I know next to nothing about EMP strikes: If your vehicle battery is disconnected will it survive EMP?
Also, if it’s simply not running is it immune?
Thanks!
Abraham, not sure of the answer to your question; but, I think it is the electronic components (computer parts) of the vehicle that could fry regardless of whether there is power to them. That is why they say it would be a good thing to have an older vehicle with points and condenser and other non-electronic systems.
Edit: Did a little more research after posting above. This EMP stuff is pretty complicated. There are diferent types of EMP, E1, E2, and E3. A naturally occuring EMP is not as damaging to electronics as a nuclear one would be. It is also stated that many automobiles would survive an EMP, regardless of year of manufacture. So, in answer to your question, Abraham, “it depends”.
Like I said above, I am not sure of the answer to your question; it just depends on a lot of factors. Prepping involves a lot of factors, so that is why it is best to be prepared for various and numerous crimcumstance. It an impossible task task to be prepared for every pontential scenario, in my opinion.
With all the electronics in my new truck, I’m surprised it survived the 4th of July.
Redstate,
Thank you!
I appreciate your response.
You are very welcome, Abraham.
Let me give a LITTLE I know having read up on about this subject, after first seeing the author of ONE SECOND AFTER on C-SPAN, then reading the book, his website which is CHOCK FULL of info and I highly, highly recommend it, btw.
MANY tests have been performed to see what all will/wont be running after an EMP. Redstate is 100% right…it just depends on the type, where you are located from the attack, if its natural or manmade. SOME will be affected. As for the power grid…THATS what many/most are worried about, apparently with good reason. It seems to be our weakest point. Other machines and computers would be affected also. No, a car, machine or computer does not have to be running in order to be damaged, from my reading & understanding. Obviously the less electronics a vehicle has, the better.
After reading and studying on this subject now for a few years…Im REALLY surprised we haven’t been hit with this yet. WE…our U.S. intelligence…KNOWS that our enemies know about this, and how to do it. The surprising thing I found out was, the smaller the bomb, the more EMP damage it does. A suitcased sized nuke that popped right over mid America would be devasting. I really do suggest going to author William R. Forstchen’s website, as he is considered the eminent word on EMP, having testified in front of Congress and others begging them to harden the power grid.
Straight Shooter, thanks for the suggestion to visit Forstchen’s website. Good information.
I hadn’t even thought about a solar storm of that magnitude but the coronal mass ejection in 1859 knocked out Telegraph service to varying degrees all over the country.
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No. The issue is the magnetic field Flux induces currents in the circuits that exceed their capacity. The smaller the wires in the circuits, the more vulnerable they are due to less current capacity. Since modern microchips are collections of extremely small wires they’re generally very vulnerable unless appropriately shielded. Conversely old tech like vacuum tubes is pretty resilient.
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I think the only thing that has saved us is that at the moment it’s damn hard to generate an EMP of any size short of lighting off a nuke at altitude.
You can use what are called Flux compression generators but one would have to be massive to cause much more than a localized effect.
That being said I’m surprised we havn’t seen one lit off at some strategic point, say a communications node for the financial markets or something similar. Some place that could cause chaos via the secondary effects.
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My pleasure sir! He is considered THE expert/go-to -guy on the subject of EMP.
That’s only sort of true.
Small (10ish kt) fission weapons are more efficient at emp generation, but produce less overall emp than larger fission weapons. Fission/fusion weapons are very inefficient because of the reaction used, but still produce more emp.
It’s basically diminishing returns in emp vs warhead yield, but a smaller weapon is not “better” on a 1 to 1 comparison.
Because of weapons grade nuclear material were easy to produce, a nation state like Iran would have a whole lot of it by now.
And even if you make a simple nuclear device, rocket science is literally rocket science. The world saw the first nuclear weapons around the time it saw its first ballistic missiles. Missiles are complex and expensive.
And finally, if you were a terrorist that had a nuclear warhead AND a missile capable of going from the coast to some place over the middle of the USA… don’t you think you’d use it to directly strike the DC area instead?
Basically, terrorist goals are better served by actually destroying a city and causing millions of casualties while also skipping the steps of acquiring a missile, launching it correctly, and hoping it doesn’t get shot down.
And it’s not like you need nukes nor emp to take down the US power grid.