An EMP weapon was the subject of a Popular Mechanics article I saw awhile back. It claimed you could manufacture a bomb that would cripple the entire NYC-Boston area from materials purchased from Ace Hardware for I think less than $900. Anybody else read that one?

Anyways it is something that an enemy whose symbolic target was the financial heart of globalization would strike at in a "Fight Club" sort of vengeance. How do you defend against something that attacks computers? This sort of weapon would restore balance to the world and put everyone back on even ground again, third world countries to modern industrialised ones. Not that I am advocating such an attack, just pondering the question.

http://www.physics.northwestern.edu/...5-2/19/emp.htm

Long live the abacus!

Almost all military systems are shielded against EMP as are sensitive commercial computers and servers.

Interestingly enough though, the energy from a B-52 going full on with its ECM is enough to permanently destroy televisions and computers within a several mile radius and damage those for tens of miles out.

Pershing, this report that I just dug up seems to contradict your statement about safety from EMP. Unless something has changed since this report ??/2004 I am not in CONUS so I would not know about this specifically.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/li...4-07-22emp.pdf

i highly doubt with 900 dollars from an ace hardware store u can build an emp that would cripple about 100 miles of the east coast. i think thats highly debatable and it would require much care and prescision.

i read in a pm magazine that terrorists can buy a very cheap one for 400 dollars

Most of the critical circuitry in the military systems that Raytheon builds uses specially constructed ICs that have to conform to a Nuclear Hardness Critical Item specification. They are not only shielded but also have thicker films and substrates. The HCI spec is an old specification and has been used in designs for many years.

i found a website on emp bombs
http://www.transglobal-aerospace.co.uk/electromagnetic/

Almost every thing short of my personal camera and gps unit that i carry into combat is emp protected, radio weapon sights even the FBCB2.

The problem as I saw it was according to the congressional report I posted here experts are telling congress that the equipment is NOT hardened against an EMP. Some of the critical equipment they think can withstand an attack but they aren't 100% sure of that. In the units and in the press everyone is saying yes, we're prepared but to congress these DOD scientists are saying nope, we have our drawers around our ankles.