14 DAY TRIAL // Danger Room reports Taiwan is secretly working on a blackout bomb designed to...well? wipe out China's electrical system. The news was also in United Daily News, which claimed Taiwan is working hard on a graphite bomb, similar to the one used by the US Army troops in Serbia.
Taiwannews detailed the original report: "Taiwan is to develop a non-lethal graphite bomb designed to disable rival China's power supplies, it was reported yesterday. Should war break out, the so-called "blackout bombs" would be carried by Hsiungfeng 2E cruise missiles to paralyze the power systems of China's southeastern coastal cities."
They also said that the bombs work by sprinkling a cloud of chemically treated carbon fibers over power supplies, causing them to short-circuit, but without killing people. Ain't that an environmentally free killing scheme or what? Or maybe China prepares some alien bombs to destroy...I don't know...something.
The reports says that if this gets the parliament's approval, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, aka Taiwan's top arms research unit, would immediately begin research and development of the weaponry. The only issue would be the highly expensive cost of about NT$500 million (US$15.34 million). As expected, Taiwan's defense ministry declined to comment on the claims.
Wired reminds us that the US also has its own version of a graphite bomb, known as the BLU-114/B, which has been described by the Federation American Scientists as a: "special-purpose munition for attacking electrical power infrastructure." The classified weapon is based on the same functionality.
There are rumors that the US troops have actually used real explosive against commercial power plants. But, then again, bombs are always cool headlines. Which makes me wonder: do they need all this effort and money...just to turn off a few lights for a few hours?