[LINK] Electromagnetic pulse artillery shell

[Tom Worthington]

On 24/01/17 12:19, Stephen Loosley wrote:

> ... The US Army is currently working on a non-explosive electromagnetic
> pulse artillery shell ...

That sounds as useful as atomic cannon, which the US Army acquired, 
before realizing what a silly idea it was.

An electromagnetic pulse artillery shell which could cripple an entire 
city is going to be difficult (or impossible) to build. If it can be 
built it will be all but unusable. Using the weapon on a city would be a 
war crime and would be of little tactical use as it would effect too 
large an area. It would be of little use as a strategic weapon, as the 
effect would be uncertain.

A more useful alternative are UAVs which can search for targets and 
selectively jam an area for a period of time, or on higher power 
setting, destroy equipment. Apart from anything else, this should be 
cheaper, as you can re-use the UAVs. The UAVs operated by the RAAF may 
have such a capability. Piloted aircraft could also be used for this and 
it is likely to be a feature of the EA-18G Growler aircraft operated by 
the RAAF.


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Tom Worthington, MEd, FACS CP.  http://www.tomw.net.au t +61(0)419496150
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