-Caveat Lector-

[This is the first few paragraphs of a *long* [but *excellent*]
overview of EM Pulse weapons, their theory, development, and
practical considerations, e.g., deployment, etc.  --MS]

The E-Bomb - a Weapon of Electrical Mass Destruction


Carlo Kopp
Department of Computer Science
Monash University
Clayton, 3168, Australia
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.cs.monash.edu.au/~carlo/


 ABSTRACT

High Power Electromagnetic Pulse generation techniques and High
Power Microwave technology have matured to the point where
practical E-bombs (Electromagnetic bombs) are becoming
technically feasible, with new applications in both Strategic and
Tactical Information Warfare. The development of conventional
E-bomb devices allows their use in non-nuclear confrontations.
This paper discusses aspects of the technology base, weapon
delivery techniques and proposes a doctrinal foundation for the
use of such devices in warhead and bomb applications.



1. Introduction

The prosecution of a successful Information Warfare (IW) campaign
against an industrialised or post industrial opponent will
require a suitable set of tools. As demonstrated in the Desert
Storm air campaign, air power has proven to be a most effective
means of inhibiting the functions of an opponent's vital
information processing infrastructure. This is because air power
allows concurrent or parallel engagement of a large number of
targets over geographically significant areas [SZAFRANSKI95].

While Desert Storm demonstrated that the application of air power
was the most practical means of crushing an opponent's
information processing and transmission nodes, the need to
physically destroy these with guided munitions absorbed a
substantial proportion of available air assets in the early phase
of the air campaign. Indeed, the aircraft capable of delivery
laser guided bombs were largely occupied with this very target
set during the first nights of the air battle.

The efficient execution of an IW campaign against a modern
industrial or post-industrial opponent will require the use of
specialised tools designed to destroy information systems.

Electromagnetic bombs built for this purpose can provide, where
delivered by suitable means, a very effective tool for this
purpose.


2.The EMP Effect

The ElectroMagnetic Pulse (EMP) effect [1] was first observed
during the early testing of high altitude airburst nuclear
weapons [GLASSTONE64]. The effect is characterised by the
production of a very short (hundreds of nanoseconds) but intense
electromagnetic pulse, which propagates away from its source with
ever diminishing intensity, governed by the theory of
electromagnetism. The ElectroMagnetic Pulse is in effect an
electromagnetic shock wave.

This pulse of energy produces a powerful electromagnetic field,
particularly within the vicinity of the weapon burst. The field
can be sufficiently strong to produce short lived transient
voltages of thousands of Volts (ie kiloVolts) on exposed
electrical conductors, such as wires, or conductive tracks on
printed circuit boards, where exposed.

It is this aspect of the EMP effect which is of military
significance, as it can result in irreversible damage to a wide
range of electrical and electronic equipment, particularly
computers and radio or radar receivers. Subject to the
electromagnetic hardness of the electronics, a measure of the
equipment's resilience to this effect, and the intensity of the
field produced by the weapon, the equipment can be irreversibly
damaged or in effect electrically destroyed. The damage inflicted
is not unlike that experienced through exposure to close
proximity lightning strikes, and may require complete replacement
of the equipment, or at least substantial portions thereof.

Commercial computer equipment is particularly vulnerable to EMP
effects, as it is largely built up of high density Metal Oxide
Semiconductor (MOS) devices, which are very sensitive to exposure
to high voltage transients. What is significant about MOS devices
is that very little energy is required to permanently wound or
destroy them, any voltage in typically in excess of tens of Volts
can produce an effect termed gate breakdown which effectively
destroys the device. Even if the pulse is not powerful enough to
produce thermal damage, the power supply in the equipment will
readily supply enough energy to complete the destructive process.

Wounded devices may still function, but their reliability will be
seriously impaired. Shielding electronics by equipment chassis
provides only limited protection, as any cables running in and
out of the equipment will behave very much like antennae, in
effect guiding the high voltage transients into the equipment.

Computers used in data processing systems, communications
systems, displays, industrial control applications, including
road and rail signalling, and those embedded in military
equipment, such as signal processors, electronic flight controls
and digital engine control systems, are all potentially
vulnerable to the EMP effect.

Other electronic devices and electrical equipment may also be
destroyed by the EMP effect. Telecommunications equipment can be
highly vulnerable, due to the presence of lengthy copper cables
between devices. Receivers of all varieties are particularly
sensitive to EMP, as the highly sensitive miniature high
frequency transistors and diodes in such equipment are easily
destroyed by exposure to high voltage electrical transients.
Therefore radar and electronic warfare equipment, satellite,
microwave, UHF, VHF, HF and low band communications equipment and
television equipment are all potentially vulnerable to the EMP
effect.

It is significant that modern military platforms are densely
packed with electronic equipment, and unless these platforms are
well hardened, an EMP device can substantially reduce their
function or render them unusable.


3. The Technology Base for Conventional Electromagnetic Bombs
The technology base which may be applied to the design of
electromagnetic bombs is both diverse, and in many areas quite
mature. Key technologies which are extant in the area are
explosively pumped Flux Compression Generators (FCG), explosive
or propellant driven Magneto-Hydrodynamic (MHD) generators and a
range of HPM devices, the foremost of which is the Virtual
Cathode Oscillator or Vircator. A wide range of experimental
designs have been tested in these technology areas, and a
considerable volume of work has been published in unclassified
literature.

This paper will review the basic principles and attributes of
these technologies, in relation to bomb and warhead
applications. It is stressed that this treatment is not
exhaustive, and is only intended to illustrate how the technology
base can be adapted to an operationally deployable capability.

[huge snip]

For the balance of this paper, and diagrams, see:

http://www.infowar.com/MIL_C4I/mil_c4i8.html-ssi


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             Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT

  FROM THE DESK OF:
                     *Michael Spitzer*  <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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