Page 9 - ADT JUNE - JULY 2021 Online Magazine

Electromagnetic weapons [ TECHNOLOGY ]
In January this year, Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, exec-
utive director of the Electromagnetic Pulse
(EMP) Taskforce on National and Homeland
Security, warned in a report that Russia has
developed a "super-electromagnetic pulse"
Preparing for is capable of carrying it at Mach 20 speed.
(EMP) weapon, along with a warhead that

“These EMP weapons could blackout North
America and NATO Europe and win World War
III at the speed of light," he said.
Tomorrow ized for high altitude electromagnetic pulse
Russia’s super-EMP weapons are special-
(HEMP) attacks, the report said. The country
has the capacity “to clandestinely orbit a nucle-
ar-armed satellite or satellites, to be maintained
IN A QUEST TO BE FUTURE-READY, MILITARIES in orbit for years, until needed to make a sur-
INVEST IN GAME-CHANGING TECHNOLOGIES, prise HEMP attack,” it added.
BOTH FOR OFFENCE AND DEFENCE Russia is not the only country that can target
the U.S. with EMP weapons. In June last year,
Arun Sivasankaran Pry detailed China’s ability to conduct an EMP
attack. The country has built a network of
Directed energy weapons (DEWs), hypersonic missiles, bombers satellites, high-speed missiles, and super-elec-
that can strike anywhere in the world without having to refuel, tromagnetic pulse weapons that are capable
beyond visual range air-to-air missiles, and sonic guns that cause of melting down the U.S. electric grid, causing
the target’s brain to vibrate are just some of the game-changing irreparable damage to critical communications,
technologies that militaries are investing in as it becomes increas- and even taking out the ability of aircraft carrier
ingly clear that supremacy in all five domains - land, air, sea, space, groups to respond. Besides having super-EMP
and cyberspace – will be needed to win future wars. weapons and developing protocols to conduct
At a Congressional hearing in June this year, U.S. Space Force a first-strike attack, China is also equipped to
Chief Gen. Jay Raymond replied in the affirmative when asked if protect its assets against an EMP attack.
the country was developing directed energy weapons to protect “China’s military doctrine — including numer-
its space assets and retain its supremacy in the domain. “We have ous examples presented here of using HEMP
to be able to protect these capabilities that we rely so heavily on,” attack to win on the battlefield, defeat U.S.
he added. aircraft carriers, and achieve against the U.S.
General Raymond has said, more than once, that China and homeland a surprise ‘Pearl Harbor’ writ large
Russia have directed energy capabilities that are designed to — is replete with technical and operational
damage or destroy U.S. satellites. In April last year, the U.S. Space planning consistent with a nuclear first-strike,”
Command said that Russia had test fired an anti-satellite missile Pry said in his report.
that could threaten American satellites in low Earth orbit. Three
months later, Russia conducted a non-destructive co-orbital ASAT Waking up to a Threat
test by injecting a sub-satellite, Cosmos-2543, from an “inspector With China developing DEWs that are capable
satellite,” Cosmos-2542. In December last year, the country tested of attacking American satellites in combat, the
its PL19/Nudol direct-ascent ASAT system again, the second test in US military has more than doubled its spend-
less than a year. China, the U.S.’ biggest adversary, has also tested ing on such weapons over the last five years.
direct-ascent ASATs on several occasions. In October 2019, the U.S. Air Force success-

ASIAN DEFENCE TECHNOLOGY June/July 2021 | 9