# When & If An EMP Bomb Is Detonated Over US .... ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 26, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-an-emp-bomb-is-detonated-over-us/301105 "2005-04-26T01:40:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-an-emp-bomb-is-detonated-over-us/301105/1 "2005-04-26T01:40:41Z")
What will be the consequences of an EMP bomb being dropped above the US and putting all US electrical/electronic systems out of commission? [\*\* EMP Bomb Possible or Probable? \*\*](http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43956) Who and how will retalliation result? ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-an-emp-bomb-is-detonated-over-us/301105/2 "2005-04-26T01:48:52Z")
The source of that article is WorldNetDaily, bastion of crappy journalism. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-an-emp-bomb-is-detonated-over-us/301105/3 "2005-04-26T02:01:56Z")
I’m on my PDA so that WND site came through screwy, but did it say that Iran could use scuds to get an EMP bomb over the USA and detonate it remotely “without a high level of sophistication”? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-an-emp-bomb-is-detonated-over-us/301105/4 "2005-04-26T02:04:44Z")
That didn’t even qualify as an article. There is no way to damage all electronic devices with a single weapon. However, If Iran did launch a nuclear strike it would have a return address on it. There wouldn’t be Iranians left to celebrate. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-an-emp-bomb-is-detonated-over-us/301105/5 "2005-04-26T02:13:40Z")
If you are going to offer a cite, at least go to a credible site, or four: [The Electromagnetic Bomb - a Weapon of Electrical Mass Destruction](http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/kopp/apjemp.html), written by an Aussie defense analyst, courtesy of Maxwell AFB. [How E-Bombs Work](http://science.howstuffworks.com/e-bomb3.htm) [Nuclear Burst Effects on Electronics](http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/policy/army/fm/3-3-1_2/Appc.htm) [Nuclear Weapon EMP Effects](http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/emp.htm) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-an-emp-bomb-is-detonated-over-us/301105/6 "2005-04-26T13:41:48Z")
I’m not so sure that an EMP weapon would actually damage the hardware any. It should be possible to switch anything off and then restart it. The problem is more for things that aren’t going to go down gracefully. I other words, some planes would drop out of the sky (nbot all of them) and a lot of people will die from silly, every-day things. ---
**Author:** ![matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-an-emp-bomb-is-detonated-over-us/301105/7 "2005-04-26T15:30:17Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > What will be the consequences of an EMP bomb being dropped above the US and putting **all US electrical/electronic systems out of commission?** EMP bombs don’t work by magic - they require extremely high levels of power output, although for a small amount of time. That’s supposedly achievable using chemical explosives in the small devices, whereas nukes automatically give an EMP pulse. Putting all US systems out of commission would require a HUGE nuke in space - there’s not many nations that could do it, and they have the integrity and safety of their statehood to worry about. As for the smaller, explosive-pumped devices, you’re talking a radius measured in tens or hundreds of meters being affected. Something to worry about, but quite frankly we’ve had worse. At least the things are non-lethal. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-an-emp-bomb-is-detonated-over-us/301105/8 "2005-04-26T20:07:43Z")
Wasn’t this the premise of Dark Angel? Terrorists detonate one nuclear warhead in space and turn the US into a third world country. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-if-an-emp-bomb-is-detonated-over-us/301105/9 "2005-04-26T21:00:28Z")
> [@spingears](#): > > What will be the consequences of an EMP bomb being dropped above the US and putting all US electrical/electronic systems out of commission? > > [\*\* EMP Bomb Possible or Probable? \*\*](http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43956) > > Who and how will retalliation result? I doubt this is possible with just one bomb.