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What an EMP Bomb IsNon-conventional weapon |
By Gabriel Gache, Science News Editor
5th of July 2008, 11:12 GMT
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Remember the 1989 power outage in the surrounding areas of Quebec, Canada, that left about six million people without power for nine hours? Well, the phenomenon itself wasn't determined by an electromagnetic pulse bomb, but by a powerful geomagnetic storm triggered by the solar activity. Nevertheless, both produce electromagnetic pulses resulting in roughly the same effects on electronic and electric devices.
An electromagnetic pulse bomb is a weapon destined to destroy the electric and electronic infrastructure of a particular target. Considering the fact that electricity powers almost every single device currently used around the world, it's not hard to imagine the kind of panic the detonation of an electromagnetic pulse bomb would trigger. Computers, television, refrigerators, cars, telephones, trams and many other essential devices using electricity to function would become useless in the event of an electromagnetic pulse attack.
How it works
The idea behind a simple electromagnetic pulse bomb basically involves the creation of a massive electromagnetic field. Light, radio, x-ray, microwave are all types of electromagnetic radiation, which is a self-propagating wave composed of an electric field oscillating perpendicular to a magnetic field. Both the electric and magnetic fields are in phase and oscillate perpendicular to the direction of propagation. Electric currents can generate magnetic field, while variable magnetic fields can induce electric currents into the conductors in its vicinity.
Usually, electric and electronic devices use just enough power to function correctly, any bigger than that and the electric and electronic components would suffer damage beyond repair. This is exactly the weakness targeted by the electromagnetic pulse bomb. The intense electromagnetic pulse generates a massive magnetic field, thus inducing extra electrical current into the electric circuits, overloading component, eventually triggering a malfunction.
Types of EMP bombs
There are several ways an electromagnetic pulse can be triggered, one of them being through the detonation of a nuclear weapon, by the Compton effect. As the nuclear device is being detonated, intense electromagnetic energy is released, which in turn interacts with the atoms in the Earth's atmosphere that become ionized. The electrons released during the ionization are then picked up by the Earth's powerful magnetic field, thus creating a fluctuating electric current that generates a magnetic field. An electromagnetic pulse was created.
Alternatively, electromagnetic pulses can be generated through non-nuclear techniques, such as high power microwaves. Flux compression generator bombs are yet another type of electromagnetic pulse bombs. They basically consist of a metal cylinder which is surrounded by a coil. The metal cylinder is filled with explosive.
When the coil of the bomb is powered and electrical current is generated, a magnetic field is created. Then, the explosive is detonated with the help of a fuse. As the shock of the explosion propagates, the metal cylinder is forced to come in contact with the coil winding, triggering a short circuit that results in the creation of a compressed magnetic field, thus of an electromagnetic pulse.
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