Electromagnetic Pulse Weapons

How the great powers could cripple societies and blame the Sun

- by T.J. Coles

Imagine the power in a major global city suddenly dying. The lights and heating go out,1 the internet is down,2 TV and radio cease broadcasting,3 hospitals cannot function,4 traffic lights and vehicles stop working, backup generators fail, and power stations can't get back online.5 Patients undergoing surgery die. Cars and trucks collide. Cold storage medicines go bad. Unlike the local surges that take out the electricity of limited numbers of streets, this kind of outage affects the entire city.

In contrast to traditional and predictable shortages that are fixed within hours, this blackout isn't due to cable or grid issues. The very electronic microcircuits present in most modern technologies6—from cars and cell phones to planes and washing machines—have been fried. Unlike a terrorist attack, there are no visible explosions and directly injured civilians. All the injuries are secondary effects caused by the electronics on which they depend going dead. Unlike a series of airstrikes by an invading nation, the source of the damage is less immediately detectable but the impact is instantly felt.

This scenario describes the consequences of a hostile power detonating an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon. Such weapons are unlikely to be deployed against so-called developed societies because of their counteroffensive capabilities. But poorer and more vulnerable countries are subject to deniable imperial attacks by the major powers. Suppose the EMP was detonated by a global power but attributed to an accident or natural occurrence, such as solar flares. EMPs have the potential to give nations the luxury of deniability.

The blasts were first popularised in the James Bond movie,