“I know not what weapons World War III will be fought with, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”.— Albert Einstein.EMP..Three letters that put the fear of God into Pentagon military planners..Electromagnetic Pulse weapons deliver a sudden burst of electromagnetic energy that literally melt down all micro electronics — power grids, home electronics, electric cars, gas-powered cars, and possibly even aircraft carrier groups..If they are coordinated with physical attacks then things can get real dicey real fast..Says one US military expert, by attacking the technological Achilles heel of a nation like the US, a foreign power could "bring us to our knees" and not even have to do battle with the Marines or the Navy or the Air Force, and win a war in 24 hours with a single blow — a combined EMP cyberattack.. Chinese missilesChinese missiles .According to a report by the EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security, China now has super-EMP weapons, knows how to protect itself against an EMP attack, and has developed protocols to conduct a first-strike attack, Forbes magazine reported..It also has the most active ballistic missile development program in the world, so this is doubly troubling, US officials say..China allegedly used stolen US technology to develop at least three types of high-tech weapons to attack the electric grid and key technologies that could cause a surprise “Pearl Harbor” attack that could produce a deadly blackout to the entire country, Forbes magazine reported..Solar flares are the most common causes of EMP, but those are rarely large enough to cause more than minor disruptions on Earth..However, in 1989, a geomagnetic storm triggered an event on the Hydro-Québec power system that resulted in its complete collapse within 92 seconds, leaving six million customers without power..The storm resulted from the Sun ejecting a trillion-cubic-mile plume of superheated plasma, or ionized gas. This energy, by the way, passes harmlessly through humans..According to SOFREP.com, the mechanics of producing large-scale EMPs have only been accomplished through the use of nuclear weapons.. Chinese missilesChinese missiles .Smaller EMP bursts can be produced using energy weapons, but these have a limited range and are more suited to disrupting individual systems or small areas. These non-nuclear EMP (NNEMP) weapons have promise, though..Stealthy, 5th-Gen fighter jets loaded with NNEMP missiles, could conceivably penetrate enemy airspace and target air-defense systems, communications systems and radar sites..With the right placement, these non-destructive weapons could cripple the command and control functions of an enemy state..Non-destructive is a relative term, however. While there will be little to no physical carnage, electrical systems would be completely destroyed. All while having no communications and with no way to track further airspace penetration..Your basic nightmare scenario..Citing sources from the Chinese journal Electronic Information Warfare Technology, the South China Morning Post reported last year that China has tested its first EMP weapon at a classified date and location..The latest experiment was reportedly conducted by the China Electronics Technology Group. The aircraft that was brought down was flying at 1,500 meters (4,920ft) above sea level when it was neutralized by the EMP attack..The outlet also reported that China is researching an 80GW EMP weapon..To give you an idea of what a weapon like that could do ....During the Starfish Prime tests in 1962, a 1.4 megaton bomb was detonated 250 miles above the earth, roughly between the Marshall Islands to the west, and the Hawaiian Islands to the east, SOFREP.com reported..While EMP was already a known side effect of nuclear explosions, the range and effect of Starfish showed that these after-effects were a weapon in their own right..One hundred times bigger than what was dropped on Hiroshima, Starfish Prime resulted in an EMP which caused electrical damage nearly 900 miles away in Hawaii..It knocked out streetlights, set off numerous burglar alarms, caused automobiles to malfunction and damaged a telephone company microwave link that shut down telephone calls from Kauai to the other Hawaiian islands..Three satellites in low Earth orbit were quickly disabled, with at least six more failing over the next few months, SOFREP.com reported. These later failures were attributed to man-made radiation belts orbiting the Earth as a result of the testing..Unless electronic systems are fully shielded, they are highly vulnerable, and only certain military systems are..One positive sideline from atmospheric and space testing was the Partial Test Ban Treaty..In 1963, the US, UK and Russian governments signed a treaty that would ban the nuclear weaponization of space..However, China did not, and has not, signed on to this treaty — yet another worrying factor..Russia is also working on electromagnetic technology. Dubbed “doomsday” planes, new units based on the Ilyushin Il-96-400M long-range airliner are expected to be resistant to nuclear shock waves and electromagnetic pulses, The Defense Post reported..The US Navy had been developing an electromagnetic railgun for 15 years now but has halted work on the project indefinitely..You might think that EMP is too farfetched to worry about. But you would be wrong. If it can be done, someone will do it..China is clearly moving into a more aggressive position globally, evidenced by their recent aggression in the South China Sea and the constant air and see harassment of Taiwan..“You can use a single weapon to collapse the entire North American power grid,” said defense analyst Peter Pry, who served on the Congressional EMP Commission..“Once the electric grid goes down, everything would collapse,” Pry told Live Science. “Everything depends on electricity: telecommunications, transportation, even water.”.Pry said it would be within the capabilities of many militaries such as North Korea, or even terrorist groups, to build an EMP weapon..“We’ve arrived at a place where a single individual can topple the technological pillars of civilization for a major metropolitan area all by himself armed with some device like this,” he said..Perhaps even more concerning, a team of researchers at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) in Beijing, is developing a new type of hypersonic EMP missile..This missile can travel at six times the speed of sound (7,000 km/hour), boasts a range of 3,000 kilometres (an estimated 25-minute flight), and would stay within the earth’s atmosphere to dodge space-based early warning systems, UK’s The Sun reported..As of now, nothing can stop a hypersonic missile, and China has one in service, in the Dongfeng-17 (DF-17) glide body..According to CALT, once over the target area, a chemical explosion is triggered that would compress an electrically charged magnet known as a “flux compression generator.”.This would convert the shock energy to short but extremely powerful EMPs..Engineering scientist Sun Zheng and his co-researchers, boasted in a domestic journal called Tactical Missile Technology, state: “It can release 95 percent of the energy in just 10 seconds, suitable for instantaneous discharge to cause electromagnetic pulse damage.".The researchers also noted that compared to other non-nuclear EMP bombs, there would be no batteries in this weapon. In place of the dry cells, super-capacitors will be used..During a chilling two-and-a-half hour telephone call in July, between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, to discuss the Taiwan situation, the PRC boss openly boasted..“Those who play with fire end up getting burned” and “I hope the American side fully understands this,” said Xi..Perhaps we should get those sticks and stones ready.. Chinese missilesChinese missiles
