Hi All,

 

I’ve often heard that an electromagnet pulse can be used to knock out power supplies and wondered if I could ask a few questions to the people on the forum who know about that subject?

 

Is it possible?

 

Can you direct the pulse and limit its effect and distance of influence?

 

What types of power supplies would it affect?

 

I’m sorry for any terribly bad mistakes in my thinking or questions and for having to use such layman terms.

 

Thanks

 

 

Yes, it is possible.

 

Typically, nuclear devices are detonated at very high altitudes and their effects span across large areas. It might be possible using some other method, to direct the pulse, but it wouldn't work very well using the common nuclear device method. If detonation took place at a lower altitude the area it affects could be reduced, but the area may then begin to suffer the primary effects from the nuke, as opposed to the desired secondary electromagnetic pulse effect, caused by gamma radiation and excited electrons.

 

I read up about this about a year back, and came across operation 'Starfish Prime'. Some of the effects are found in this article: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/07/06/starfish-prime/. Wikipedia also has a lot more information on EMP.

That was great (and scary) thanks a lot.

 

Is there no other means of creating an EMP?

Yes, there are other means! Which are used.

 

Chemical explosives can squeeze electrical conductors in a magnetic field. Sakharov developed it, and such bombs were used, especially against Al Jezeera's transmitter in Bagdad at the beginning of the latest war.

 

A capacitor discharge in an antenna creates an EMP. Credible figures are: luggage sized, destroys electronics at 10m, disables it temporarily at 100m. I expect effects on the brains as well. A Blumline can switch this energy fast enough, and present electronic switches like high-frequency MOS as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blumlein_transmission_line

I believe such an EMP source was used in two Italian cities, as the observations match precisely.

 

Amateurs proposed and demonstrated such weapons for use by police patrols against cars.

 

Directing the effect is just a matter of antenna design - keeping in mind it must withstand high voltage.

 

I urge all airliner designers to harden their designs against these small weapons, easy to conceal and efficient at landing.