Electromagnetic bomb

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An electromagnetic bomb or E-bomb is a weapon designed to disable electronics on a wide scale with an electromagnetic pulse. The electromagnetic radiation from an explosion (especially nuclear explosions) or an intensely fluctuating magnetic field caused by Compton-recoil electrons and photoelectrons from photons scattered in the materials of the electronic or explosive device or in a surrounding medium. The resulting electric and magnetic fields may couple with electrical/electronic systems to produce damaging current and voltage surges. The effects are usually not noticeable beyond the blast radius unless the device is nuclear or specifically designed to produce an electromagnetic shockwave.

The electromagnetic pulse was first observed during high altitude nuclear weapon detonations. An electromatic pulse lasts for less than a nanosecond, and travels outward in every direction as an electromagnetic shock wave. This shock wave will induce heavy currents in all electronic gadgets that mainly contain semiconducting and conducting materials. This produces immense heat that simply fries the circuitry inside and destroys them. As such, while not being directly responsible for the loss of lives, these weapons are capable of disabling electronic systems on which industrialized nations are highly dependent.

The resistance to EMP by device is listed below, from most to least vulnerable:

Integrated circuits (ICs), CPUs, silicon chips
Transistors
Vacuum Tubes (also known as thermionic valves)
Inductors, motors

Transistor technology is likely to fail and old vacuum equipment survive. To protect sensitive electronics, a Faraday cage must be produced around the item. This can be done by wrapping the item, such as a radio in foil (any external connections should not touch foil) without any holes. This will shield the item from EMI fields.

Electromagnetic weapons are still mostly classified and research surrounding them is highly secretive. Military speculators and experts generally think that E-bombs use explosively pumped flux compression generator technology as their power source.

According to some reports, the U.S. Navy used experimental E-bombs during the 1991 Gulf War. These bombs utilized warheads that converted the energy of conventional explosives into a pulse of radio energy. [link] CBS News also reported that the U.S. dropped an E-bomb on Iraqi TV during the 2003 invasion, but this has not been confirmed. [link]

The Soviet Union conducted significant research into producing nuclear weapons specially designed for upper atmospheric detonations, a decision that was later followed by the United States and the United Kingdom. Only the Soviets ultimately produced any significant quantity of such warheads, most of which were disarmed following the Reagan era arms talks. EMP specialized nuclear weapons belong to the third generation of nuclear weapons.

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Electromagnetic bomb

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