
A briefcase-size radio weapon could wreak havoc in our networked world - spectruman
http://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/military/electromagnetic-warfare-is-here#.U_zUdUSgY1c.hackernews
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wyager
The article seems to confuse EMPs and continuous interference devices.

As far as I know, there is no viable way to make a particularly powerful EMP
that can be used multiple times inside of a suitcase.

The only method I know of constructing a reasonably powerful portable EMP is
by creating an EPFCG, which would be very dangerous to the operator inside a
suitcase, is directional, and can only be used once.

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at-fates-hands
Just to be clear - you're talking about Nuclear Explosively Pumped Flux
Compression Generator correct?

From 2010:
[http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2552508/posts](http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2552508/posts)

"BP with oversight from NATO and the help of several government agencies has
successfully tested a Nuclear explosively pumped flux compression generator
(EPFCG). It is a device used to generate a high-power electromagnetic pulse by
compressing magnetic flux using high explosive."

This part was curious:

"The USGS and Canada Earthquake center are reporting a mild earthquake in the
region registering between 3.8 and 4.2 magnitude."

I agree though, getting something this powerful into a suitcase would be a
feat of engineering and would leave the operator in a very dangerous position.

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anigbrowl
Link generates a Malware warning, and Free Republic is a pretty fringey site
to begin with. I suggest you try to find a primary source.

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spiritplumber
[http://blockyourid.com/~gbpprorg/mil/herf/voltsamps/herf005....](http://blockyourid.com/~gbpprorg/mil/herf/voltsamps/herf005.html)
A HERF device is actually pretty simple to cobble together, if you don't mind
size and high power consumption. Making it portable is more of an engineering
challenge, but if you can purpose-build a magnetron rather than using one from
a microwave oven, the problem becomes easier to solve.

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t0
Part of a Defcon talk a few years ago included something similar:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU8hg4FTm0g&t=38m43s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU8hg4FTm0g&t=38m43s)

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ck2
You don't need batteries to make an EMP

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosively_pumped_flux_compres...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explosively_pumped_flux_compression_generator)

The question is if the equipment is inside a Faraday Cage and the device is
outside, will it affect it.

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_bbs
True, but that device is destroyed with operation unlike the device described
in the article.

~~~
electromagnetic
However, the device described in the article doesn't destroy equipment (at
least its highly unlikely a suitcase size one would generate the field voltage
necessary) where as an EPCFG very likely would.

There's no reason these couldn't be left like a suitcase bomb and take out an
entire blocks electronics. These could easily be walked into a companies
headquarters and take out all the electronics in the entire company.

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jacquesm
The easier way to achieve that goal is to overload the net rails with a few
thousand volts _after_ the main breaker.

Box with a flywheel that spins up to very high RPM using a motor/generator,
then change it from motor to generator using a higher number of windings and
then dumping all the energy accumulated in a couple of minutes back into the
local grid in a few milliseconds. Probably better to use 2 flywheels so the
forces cancel out otherwise the whole thing might come apart.

You could connect this to any wall socket in the company and it wouldn't be
much bigger than a suitcase or even fit in one.

If the pulse is short enough it will probably even be re-usable, unlike the
power supplies in everything connected to that particular bit of the supply
rail. The question is how long you can sustain the pulse, longer = more damage
but also more chance of damaging the device itself.

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madengr
The Blumlien pulser is easy to fabricate and can generate very short rise
times since you are charging up a coaxial cable to high potentials, then
shorting one end to start the pulse.

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polskibus
Ah yes, I remember playing CyberPunk 2020 (RPG) long time ago, EM weapons were
standard equipment. Interesting to see that the sci-fi is now becoming
reality.

