Threat of Electromagnetic Pulse Weapons

Wow, this is scary to say the least.  According to a new report from the EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security, the prospect of electromagnetic pulse weapons taking down the grid is real.  In fact, China already has this capability.

How China’s Electromagnetic Pulse Weapons Could Wreak Havoc

According to this Forbes article, China is a threat to the U.S. in more ways than one.  For one thing, China apparently has electromagnetic pulse weapons that are ready for use at any time.  Additionally, China has strong defense mechanisms in place against a retaliatory EMP attack.  The country also has the most active ballistic missile development program in the world, and has a militaristic philosophy that skews toward landing the first blow. 

According to Dr. Pry, the executive director of the Task Force, China has the capability to “melt down” the grid and disable communications networks by triggering electromagnetic pulse weapons from satellites, ships and land.  Obviously, this would leave the U.S. vulnerable to a more physical attack such as a bombing.

Even worse, China is not the only country looking to weaponize EMPs.  Russia, North Korea and Iran are also looking to develop EMP weapons.  While China is farther along than these other three countries, the gap is closing.

So, what can we as emergency preparedness professionals do about this emerging risk?  Unfortunately, not much, but it pays to at least be aware of the possibilities.  This is especially true given that the ramifications of such an attack would go beyond power and communication outages; according to Dr. Pry, the detonation of one or more electromagnetic pulse weapons over the Northeast would cause “a huge number of deaths.” 

I sincerely hope we never have to experience an EMP attack, but stranger things have happened.  All we can do is prepare as best we can.