It is no surprise that there is a joint U.S. Air Force and Boeing electromagnetic pulse weapon, capable of targeting and destroying electrical systems referred to as the “Counter-electronics High-powered Microwave Advanced Missile Project” (CHAMP) (Chang, 2015).
Really, this is no surprise, what is surprising however, is the fact the project is plastered all over the news. Whatever happened to keeping your enemies in the dark? We have more than our share or enemies or “Frenemies” as the case may be, enemies that would love nothing better than to see us living in the dark, so a weapon such as this would be used.
If the United States Military has one then other countries/organizations have a similar device, or have the plans for one, or are actively trying to buy or steal the plans for one. We all know cyber espionage is ongoing, so it is just a matter of time before some hacker is scrolling at will through so-called secure servers taking notes.
The plans were either hacked as they were being developed, or someone on the inside leaked them, sold them, or the government just decided to share the project with the world for humanitarian reasons (sarcasm is so hard to portray with words).
The point being, the bad guys can eventually get their hands on one and then use it. The device described above can apparently target small areas, so this means a city block can be shut down, or even a single structure without interrupting the area as a whole.
It could be used to isolate areas under siege and other areas like airports, train stations, communication hubs, even servers for the NSA, Pentagon, and military units on the ground, for example.
You would assume that certain sensitive equipment like NSA servers would be shielded, but as we have been finding out logic and common sense is not sprinkled liberally throughout governmental agencies.
We have to assume the worst, because we never assumed someone like Snowden, for example, could walk out the front door of the NSA with classified information tucked under his arm. Once out the front door he casually gets on a plane with his bag of goodies and jets off across the big pond.
Hong Kong welcomed him with loving arms, food, and lodging and then immediately transferred all the information from the NSA hard drives on to their very own well protected systems. The Russians were giddy with anticipation as they waited to swaddle him in their loving arms as well.
Is It Just Imagination, Or A Coincidence?
The Chinese and the Russians it seems have ramped up their aggression towards the United States and other countries as Snowden plays the so-called whistleblower that just had to reveal NSA secrets to the Chinese and the Russians.
One has to ask themselves what made the two countries believe they could get away with what they were, and are currently doing. Do they know something we don’t? What did Snowden actually share?
Well they are getting away with it, so there is the likely answer to the question as to what Snowden shared. Is the Sword of Damocles hanging over all our heads?
The point is you have to assume an EMP attack will happen, and the way we as a country respond lately to any crisis would lead any country to believe they could get away with it.
It could happen at any time, and the average citizen would not know it until the Internet went dark, your cell phone stopped working, and only after hours of sitting on the tarmac wondering why your flight is delayed.
A previous article talked about “What Should You Keep in a Faraday Cage” so we will not get into that here, suffice to say virtually everything today is controlled by electronics, and some things you may not even realize rely on computers and electronic components that would likely be damaged or destroyed due to an EMP.
Live Like Its 1850
If you knew how to live as if it was 1850 you could survive without electricity. However, for most of us we can only speculate at this point whether we could or not in fact live without electricity. No one knows, or knows if they would even need to. No one has lived through a targeted EMP attack on this country, so it is conjecture, educated guesses, if you will, as to what the damage would be.
Essentially you would prepare for an EMP attack as you would any crisis, with a few caveats however. An EMP according to most experts will disable or destroy most electronic components. Planes, trains, and automobiles for the most part will be rendered useless.
Freezers and refrigerators will cease working, for example, so even if you managed to protect a generator or wind turbine to produce electricity, you would have nothing that would operate presumably unless it too was protected.
You probably could not build a Faraday cage big enough to protect everything you have, so you would have to decide what is vital to your survival. Once again, you may not have any means of generating electricity on your own, because the components needed to generate electricity could be damaged by an EMP.
The obvious answer is to learn to live without electricity all together, but that is much easier said than done. Some people may believe they can, when in fact they could not for any number of reasons. Medical care would be limited to what could be done without electricity, life support systems would not work, and dialysis machines could not operate.
A simple cut can become deadly in an era without electricity. In 1850 people had to treat themselves and family members and hope for the best. Keep in mind the life expectancy in 1850 was dramatically lower than it is today. The point is it would be very difficult to live without electricity for an extended period.
The warning signs are there and dare we say it is no longer a matter of if but of when.
Chang, L. (2015, May 27). Retrieved 2015, from http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2015/05/27/us-air-force-confirms-boeing-electromagnetic-pulse-weapon/?intcmp=features