MissileThreat :: Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Weapons

Alaska to Revise Emergency Response Plan to Include Preparation for EMP Attack

May 29, 2007 :: News

On May 24, the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission was briefed by the Institute of the North, based in Anchorage, on the dangers from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack delivered by ballistic missiles. As a result of this briefing, Alaska will include preparation for an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack when it revises its emergency response plan.

An electromagnetic pulse occurs when a nuclear warhead is detonated between 40 and 400 kilometers above the Earth's surface. The explosion creates a pulse that disrupts and damages electric power grids and electronic devices; a nuclear weapon with a yield of 30 kilotons detonated at an altitude of 100 kilometers could have devastating effects of up to 70% of electrical systems up to a thousand miles in every direction.

Testifying before the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission, Institute of the North Senior Fellow Mead Treadwell noted that, "What makes contingency planning on this issue so critical is that in the case of an EMP attack, Alaska could be losing all these capacities at once, without being able to call upon outside assistance."

Alaska Homeland Security Director John Madden, co-chair of the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission, stated that planning for the threat of EMP will include integration, implementation and survivability measures, and that he plans to present the issue before the Department of Homeland Security later this summer in order to raise EMP preparedness as a national issue, not just an Alaska issue.

Treadwell also urged the Commission to consider the cost-benefit implications for EMP emergency planning since even a one-time attack would be financially devastating. "Indeed, such a calculation could factor into national decisions regarding expanding a missile defense program," he added.

Treadwell quoted author Thomas Schelling to emphasize that, though unprecedented, there is, "…a tendency in our planning to confuse the unfamiliar with the improbable. The contingency we have not considered looks strange; what looks strange is therefore improbable; what seems improbable need not be considered seriously."

A report by the 2004 Commission to Assess the Threat to the Untied States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack noted that, "…one or a few high-altitude nuclear detonations can produce EMP effects that can potentially disrupt or damage electronic and electrical systems over much of the United States, virtually simultaneously, at a time determined by an adversary." The executive summary of the EMP Commission report is viewable online at www.missilethreat.com/empreport.

The briefing follows the release of a nationwide survey of Adjutants General on issues such as missile defense and EMP attack that was conducted jointly by the Anchorage-based Institute of the North and the Claremont Institute of Claremont, California. Survey results revealed that our nation’s National Guard leaders are unprepared to respond to an EMP attack and would like further information on the subject.

Both the Institute of the North and the Claremont Institute, publisher of the website www.missilethreat.com, have been working closely together for more than 10 years on policy issues related to the strategic defense of the United States. One goal of the collaboration is to help state and local officials and citizens understand policy options at all levels related to ballistic missile defense. (Link)

» Press Release on Insitute of the North Briefing for Alaska State Emergency Response Commission

Survey of Adjutants General Reveals States Unprepared for EMP, Missile Attack

March 7, 2007 :: Analysis

America's state-based emergency responders are not actively preparing against an attack on the United States by electromagnetic pulse (EMP), according to the Adjutants General who oversee National Guard units throughout the country. Such an attack could disable most of the nation's electric power grid, telecommunications, automobiles, and computers with a single, high altitude, nuclear blast. An EMP attack is an increasingly likely possibility as ballistic missile and nuclear technology continue to proliferate.

A survey of state-based Adjutants General throughout the United States, entitled Missile Defense and the Role of the States, was conducted jointly over the last year by the Anchorage-based Institute of the North and the Claremont Institute of Claremont, California.

The survey, entitled Missile Defense and the Role of the States, was conducted jointly over the last year by the Anchorage-based Institute of the North and the Claremont Institute of Claremont, California. The survey's questions were sent to Adjutants General of all 50 states, with more than half of the states' Adjutants General responding to the questionnaire.

Although 96% of state Adjutants General indicated significant concern over an EMP attack, the majority had done little or no analysis of the impact of an overhead EMP attack to potential targets in their particular state. Likewise, most admitted little or no preparation in the areas of training, equipment/EMP hardening, and exercises/procedure.

This finding differs with a 2004 recommendation by the congressionally mandated Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from EMP Attack, which urged states to coordinate with the federal government to prepare an emergency response plan against EMP: "Working with state authorities and private-sector organizations, the Department of Homeland Security should develop draft protocols for implementation by emergency and other government responders following EMP attack, Red Team these extensively, and then institutionalize validated protocols through issuance of standards, training, and exercises."

An electromagnetic pulse is created by detonating a nuclear warhead between 40 and 400 kilometers above the earth's surface. The electromagnetic field created by the nuclear detonation at that altitude creates a "pulse" which can disrupt and disable electronic computers, electric power, telephone and information systems over a significant geographic area. Furthermore, a space-based nuclear blast could also disable satellites that would enable the U.S. to identify the source of and respond to such an attack.

The 2004 EMP report noted that, "...one or a few high-altitude nuclear detonations can produce EMP effects that can potentially disrupt or damage electronic and electrical systems over much of the United States, virtually simultaneously, at a time determined by an adversary." The executive summary of the EMP Commission report is viewable online at www.missilethreat.com/empreport.

The Institute of the North/Claremont Institute survey indicates that National Guard leaders would like increased briefings on the missile threat in general and the EMP threat in particular. While 74% of Adjutants General had been briefed on the threat from Russian ballistic missiles, only 44% had received briefings on the threat posed by ship-borne or "stateless" missiles, and 41% indicated that they received no regular briefings regarding ballistic missile threats.

Survey results also highlight overwhelming agreement (93%) that the United States needs an effective missile defense system. A majority of survey respondents supported a "layered" missile defense, composed of ground-, sea-, air-, and space-based interceptors. Furthermore, 59% of participants stated that they envisioned their state's National Guard having a role in the development, testing, manning, and deployment of missile defense systems which could prevent an EMP attack overhead.

None of the Adjutants General surveyed indicated that they were actively involved in a formal planning process on EMP attack. The survey authors suggest policy options urging states to direct contingency planning in which they create their own realistic scenarios that demonstrate the potential effects of cruise and ballistic missiles, weapons of mass destruction, and EMP attack, thus increasing state preparedness. States are also encouraged to coordinate defense efforts with the Department of Homeland Security.

"A question state policy makers may want to ask themselves is, ‘Does our state have an EMP contingency plan?,'" said Mead Treadwell of the Institute of the North: "If not, we should get on with it, as the EMP Commission recommends."

"The United States Congress has continued the EMP Commission's work since it issued its report in 2004," said Tom Karako of the Claremont Institute. "Their report was published the same day as the 9/11 Commission, but it has been too long ignored."

Survey results and a summary report were mailed to state governors and Adjutants General for their review. Based on the survey's findings, the Institute of the North and the Claremont Institute plan to follow-up by publishing a regular newsletter highlighting ways in which state military leaders and policy makers can raise awareness and increase involvement in their state. Both institutes have been working closely together for over ten years on policy issues related to the strategic defense of the United States. Their goal is to help state and local officials and citizens understand the issues related to ballistic missile defense.

The project was initiated by Mead Treadwell, senior fellow at the Institute of the North, and Tom Karako, editor of www.missilethreat.com, an online project of the Claremont Institute. Both are members of an independent working group which recently published the report, Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century.

(Link)

» Press Release for Missile Defense and the States project report

» Project Report: Missile Defense and the States, a project of the Institute of the North and the Claremont Institute

» More stories on: Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Weapons, Analysis, Policy

Helprin on the Chinese Nuclear Threat

March 5, 2007 :: Washington Post :: Analysis

Claremont Institute Senior Fellow Mark Helprin writes on the growing threat from Chinese ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, in the March 4 edition of the Washington Post. Helprin notes China's steady and disciplined rise in military power, and that despite recent friendly overtones, China's long term intentions may sharply differ from those of the United States. Helprin notes too the ability which China, along with ballistic missile and nuclear-armed nations, to threaten the United States with a debelitating Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack, which would target the immense and vulnerable power grid on which the United States economy is so wholly dependent. The congressionally-mandated commission to assess the EMP threat delivered its report in 2004, but since then almost no action has been taken. An excerpt:

Given China's appetites and our alliances and interests, a war is not inconceivable in Taiwan, or in Korea. To remove American nuclear escalation from the equation, China would need not parity but only a deterrent such as it has long possessed. The Chinese, however, whose nuclear thresholds are dissimilar to ours, would have other options.

They know that every facet of America's economy, military and society depends on individual and networked electronic devices. Were these to fail all at once and irreparably, the nation would seize up, perhaps for years.

Faced with victory, or with loss, they might choose to -- and who would venture to guarantee that they would not? -- detonate half a dozen high-megatonnage nuclear charges in the mesosphere, in an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) strike perhaps not even in American airspace, cooking almost every circuit and semiconductor, rendering the American government blind, deaf and dumber than it is already and the country unable to resist the inroads that would surely follow.

Though we would undoubtedly respond in kind, China is not as technically dependent as are we. Nor, given China's sufficiency for a counterstrike, could we deter an EMP attack with the prospect of massive retaliation, especially because an EMP strike, with no immediate casualties, would seem as peaceful as snow in still air.

The piece also appears in the forthcoming issue of the Claremont Review of Books. The full text: (More »»»)

» More stories on: Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Weapons, China

Pentagon Studies “Remediation” System to Defend Satellites

August 14, 2006 :: UPI :: News

The Pentagon is researching a new system to defend U.S. satellites from high-altitude nuclear detonations and solar storms. The “radiation belt remediation” system, as it is known, would protect low-orbiting satellites from being damaged by charged particles in unusually intense radiation belts created by high-altitude nuclear explosions or solar storms. The “remediation” system would generate very low frequency radio waves to flush particles from the radiation belts and dump them into the upper atmosphere over one or several days. The project is being pursued by the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Some scientists, however, have noted that the “remediation” system could cause communication blackouts among high frequency radio transmissions and GPS navigation signals. (Article, Link)

Gaffney: Missiles Abroad Should Concentrate the American Mind

July 25, 2006 :: Washington Times :: Analysis

The development, deployment, and proliferation of ballistic missile technology abroad requires a “concentration” of American minds and a concerted effort to develop robust missile defenses, writes Frank J. Gaffney Jr., president of the Center for Security Policy, in The Washington Times. Gaffney catalogues the missile threats that have grown in recent years: North Korea’s readiness to sell missile technology to willing buyers; Pakistan’s intention to build as many as 40 to 50 nuclear warheads per year; Iran’s continued development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology; China’s ever increasing missile arsenal; and Russia’s development of newer intercontinental ballistic missiles possibly with maneuverable re-entry vehicles.
Gaffney makes particular note of the fact that Iran has test launched a short-range Scud missile off of a ship, which would allow it to attack the U.S. without developing an intercontinental ballistic missile. He also points out that Iran has tested its medium-range Shahab-3 ballistic missile in a manner that appears designed to detonate a nuclear weapon in space. Such a detonation above the U.S. would result in an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) capable of wiping out electrical systems and crippling the U.S. infrastructure and economy.
Gaffney suggests that the Bush administration carefully examine the newly released report by the Independent Working Group, entitled Missile Defense, the Space Relationship and the Twenty-First Century, which lays out a roadmap for the development and deployment of a robust, layered, and effective U.S. missile defense shield. The report calls for the deployment of space-based defenses and the expansion of sea-based defenses, and describes ways in which the necessary technical, public, and political support can be obtained and sustained. (Article, Link)

» Read the 2007 report: The Independent Working Group on Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century (8 MB)

» Missile details: Scud B/C/D variants, Shahab-6

Gaffney Warns of North Korean EMP Attack, Calls for Increased Missile Defense

June 20, 2006 :: National Review Online :: Analysis

Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy, warns in National Review Online that the U.S. remains vulnerable to an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) attack from North Korea. If North Korea were to detonate a nuclear warhead high in the atmosphere above the U.S., the resulting burst of immensely powerful energy would devastate nearly every form of electrical system in the nation. In 2004, a blue-ribbon commission tasked by Congress with assessing the EMP threat found that it could have a “catastrophic” effect, possibly reducing the U.S. to a pre-industrial society. The commission noted that an EMP could be delivered with a “relatively unsophisticated missile,” and named North Korea as one of the states that could be seeking such a capability. In his article, Gaffney calls upon the U.S. to “make a redoubled effort to deploy effective, comprehensive defenses against ballistic missiles that might be used for EMP and other attacks.” He urges the Pentagon to augment the modest ground-based systems in Alaska and California, in particular with increased sea-based defenses that could shoot down North Korean missiles at various points in their flight path. (Article, Link)

» July 22, 2004: EMP Commission Report Points to Need for Missile Defense

» More stories on: Analysis, Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Weapons, North Korea

» Missile details: Tien Ma 1

Congressman Bartlett on EMP Threat

June 25, 2005 :: G2 Bulletin :: News

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) joins the many Congressmen recently warning that the U.S. is vulnerable to an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, reports Joseph Farrah’s G2 Bulletin. An EMP attack is generated when a nuclear weapon is detonated several dozen kilometers above the Earth’s surface, producing a large electromagnetic pulse. Such an attack would destroy a nation’s entire electric power infrastructure, resulting in cascading failures in energy, telecommunications, transportation, finance, food, and water. Bartlett warns that such an attack is imminently possible: “Terrorists could steal, purchase, or be provided a nuclear weapon and perform an EMP attack against the United States simply by launching a primitive Scud missile off a freighter near our shores.” He points out that Iran recently test-launched a Scud missile from a surface vessel, and also that North Korea could develop an EMP weapon in the near future. Bartlett correctly argues that the U.S. must act quickly to harden the nation’s infrastructure to withstand such an attack.
Another critical step must be taken: The U.S. must build and maintain a robust missile defense shield capable of protecting the homeland. Such a defense—which would incorporate defensive systems based on air, land, sea, and space—would cause a rogue nation or terrorist-sponsoring state to think twice before launching such an attack. Until then, the U.S. will remain vulnerable. (Article, Link)

» More stories on: Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Weapons

Iran Tests Suggest Possible EMP Trials

April 27, 2005 :: Jane's Information Group :: News

The May edition of Jane’s Missiles and Rockets reports that recent missile tests by Iran may have been part of the development of an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) warhead. Jane’s cites testimony from the Senate Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security from March 8, 2005, by Peter Pry and Lowell Wood. Wood is a member of the Congressional EMP Commission, which released its important report on the EMP threat in July 2004.
        Some of Iran’s tests of its Shahab-3 had been terminated before the completion of their ballistic trajectories, that is, exploding in mid-flight by what appeared to be a self-destruct mechanism. Iran has nevertheless described the tests as fully “successful.” Pry noted that the apparent contradiction would make sense “if Iran were practicing the execution of an EMP attack.” Lowell Wood is quoted as having testified to the subcommittee that such an attack upon the United States could keep off most electrical functions for a time period of a few hours or decades, depending on how it was executed. Wood also warned the subcommittee that such an EMP warhead could be delivered against the United States by “a Scud missile launched from a freighter off the Atlantic coast.”
        Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), who chairs the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security, wrote about the EMP threat in the April 15 edition of the Washington Post.
        Joseph Farah from World Net Daily carries a related story today, available online. (Link)

» July 22, 2004: EMP Commission releases report

» April 15, 2005: Washington Post, Sen. Jon Kyl on the EMP threat

» April 27, 2005: World Net Daily on possible Iran EMP preparations

» Full text of The Report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack

» Missile details: Shahab-6, Small ICBM

EMP Commission Report Points to Need for Missile Defense

July 22, 2004 :: Reuters :: News

Although overshadowed by the 9-11 report, another report was also today delivered to Congress. The Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack delivered the executive summary of their report to a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee. An electromagnetic pulse results from a nuclear explosion high in the atmosphere, and involves the disruption of nearly every form of electrical system, upon which the United States is so heavily dependent.
Mandated by law, the Commission was asked to assess the threat from “all potentially hostile states or non-state actors that have or could acquire nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles enabling them to perform a high-altitude EMP attack against the United States within the next 15 years.” They concluded that such an attack “has the potential to hold our society at risk and might result in defeat of our military forces.”
Of course, to assess an EMP threat from a “potentially hostile state or non state actor” implicitly admits that both rogue states and terrorists could well acquire a ballistic missile and a nuclear warhead and deliver them to the continental United States. The question of whether the nuclear armed missile would result in a low or high (EMP producing) altitude nuclear explosion—is quite secondary to whether the United States will remain vulnerable to terrorists or a rogue state’s ability to deliver the warhead by missile in the first place. (More »»»)

» Full text of Commission report

» Janes Defense Weekly on EMP report

» More stories on: Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Weapons, Terrorism

Pentagon Report: China’s Space Power Increasing

June 1, 2004 :: Department of Defense :: Analysis

The Department of Defense released its annual report to Congress, The Military Power of the People’s Republic of China, which details China’s continued expansion of their ballistic missile capabilities, and ambitions of military superiority in the region, as well as significant ambitions in space.
        The report also notes that China is devoting significant electronic warfare systems which could be used to jam the US GPS constellation, as well as “robust” research and development program for laser weapons. In addition, “Beijing may have acquired high-energy laser equipment that could be used in the development of ground-based anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons.”
        Space, too, is essential to the future of modern warfare, and China is pursuing electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons, and “microsatellites.” All of this continues, despite China’s salutary denials of the militarization of space, and criticism of any American attempts to defend space assets: “Publicly, China opposes the militarization of space and seeks to prevent or slow the development of U.S. anti-satellite (ASAT) systems and space-based missile defenses,” the report notes; “Privately, however, China’s leaders probably view ASAT systems—and offensive counterspace systems, in general—as well as space-based missile defenses as inevitabilities.” China is said to be pursuing foreign technologies to develop its own domestic satellite-killing capability; “Given China’s current level of interest in laser technology, Beijing probably could develop a weapon that could destroy satellites in the future,” the report notes.
        China also continues to modernize and accelerate its ballistic missile arsenal. China officially has only 20 ICBMs capable of striking the United States, but the report notes that it could have 30 by 2005, and as many as 60 by the end of the decade. Beijing is also expected to replace its 20 CSS-4 Mod 1 ICBMs with a still longer-range version, and to deploy the DF-31 ICBM by the end of the decade—if they have not done so already. (More »»»)

» Annual report, The Military Power of the People’s Republic of China (.pdf)

» Missile details: CSS-9 (DF-31)

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