By Tom Harris
The basic premise of an e-bomb, or electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon, is fairly simple. E-bombs are designed to overwhelm electrical circuitry with an intense electromagnetic field.
E-bombs started popping up in headlines only recently, but the concept of EMP weaponry has been around for a long time. The idea of a nuclear EMP attack dates back to nuclear weapons research from the 1950s. In 1958, American tests of h-bombs yielded surprising results. A test blast over the Pacific Ocean blew out streetlights in parts of Hawaii, hundreds of miles away. The blast even disrupted radio equipment as far away as Australia. Researchers concluded that the electrical disturbance was due to the Compton effect, theorized by physicist Arthur Compton in 1925. In the 1958 test, researchers surmised, photons from the blast's intense gamma radiation knocked a large number of electrons free from oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere. This flood of electrons interacted with Earth's magnetic field and created a fluctuating electric current, which induced a powerful magnetic field. The resulting electromagnetic pulse induced intense electrical currents in conductive materials over a wide area.
These days, U.S. intelligence is giving non-nuclear EMP devices, such as e-bombs, much more attention. These weapons wouldn't affect as wide an area, because they wouldn't blast photons so high above the Earth. But they could be used to create total blackouts on a more local level. The United States may likely have EMP weapons in its arsenal, but it's not clear in what form. Much of the US's EMP research has been on high power microwaves (HPMs). Most likely, the United States' HPM e-bombs aren't really bombs at all, but are probably more like super-powered microwave ovens that could generate a concentrated beam of microwave energy.
EMP technology is potentially non-lethal, but still highly destructive. An E-bomb attack would leave buildings standing and spare lives, but it could destroy a sizeable military. Low-level electromagnetic pulses would temporarily jam electronics systems, more intense pulses would corrupt important computer data and very powerful bursts would completely fry electric and electronic equipment. An e-bomb could effectively neutralize vehicle control systems, targeting systems (on the ground and on missiles and bombs), communications systems, navigation systems, and long and short-range sensor systems
While EMP weapons are often termed "non-lethal," in fact, they could easily kill people if directed towards certain targets - hospital that use life support machines, for example.
