[iwar] [fc:electromagnetic.bombs.could.throw.civilization.back]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2002-01-08 07:51:37


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Date: Tue, 8 Jan 2002 07:51:37 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [iwar] [fc:electromagnetic.bombs.could.throw.civilization.back]
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E-BOMB

In the blink of an eye, electromagnetic bombs could throw civilization
back 200 years.  And terrorists can build them for $400. 

BY JIM WILSON
Lead illustration by Edwin Herder
   http://popularmechanics.com/science/military/2001/9/e-bomb/print.phtml

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.

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