E-Bomb droped on Iraq TV

[Silent_One]

And I thought this was only in Command & Conquer!

U.S. Drops 'E-Bomb' On Iraqi TV
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/24/iraq/main541815.shtml

The highly classified bomb creates a brief pulse of microwaves powerful enough to fry computers, blind radar, silence radios, trigger crippling power outages and disable the electronic ignitions in vehicles and aircraft.

Iraqi satellite TV, which broadcasts 24 hours a day outside Iraq, went off the air around 4:30 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. ET Tuesday). Iraq's domestic television service was not broadcasting at the time.

Officially, the Pentagon does not acknowledge the weapon's existence. Asked about it at a March 5 news conference at the Pentagon, Gen. Tommy Franks said: “I can't talk to you about that because I don't know anything about it.â€￾

 

[DemoCoder]

How does this news article know what it was if the military won't say anything? Isn't it equally likely that the transmission tower was hit with a conventional weapon?

The US doesn't need it in post-Saddam Iraq, since the Commander Solo aircraft has the capability of replacing it temporarily, and transmission towers are very easy to construct.

 

[MrsSkywalker]

I for one am glad they finally took that tower out, and I don't care what was used to do it. It was just an instrument for Saddam to keep the Iraqis in fear. It's a lot easier to believe that a brutal regime is dying and that your liberty is guaranteed when you don't have to see his fugly face on the tube every day.

 

[archie4oz]

I imagine they'll be up and broadcasting after a while from alternative transmitters and locations (and if they're clever encase a lot of their necessary equipment in Faraday cages)...

 

[Vince]

I imagine they'll be up and broadcasting after a while from alternative transmitters and locations (and if they're clever encase a lot of their necessary equipment in Faraday cages)...

AFAIK, Faraday Cages have an upperbound frequency at which point they're totally ineffective. Also, you must have points of entry and exit into the cage for communication* and/or power - both of which are points of entry. Hell, EMP will propagate threw any outside connection thats not totally shielded.

* As I doubt the Iraqi's are using fibre optics. Besides, I think you're thinking too hard

How does this news article know what it was if the military won't say anything? Isn't it equally likely that the transmission tower was hit with a conventional weapon?

I can't agree more. I don't know much of the supposed E-bombs outside of the basic theory of EMP and it's propagation. When I was younger I had a project on low-level radiation containment (active, passive) and one of the men who eventually judged me had worked on HPM (not to be confused), but after they were talking and he stated to another judge that EMP had issues with directional control at that point. Then again this was quite a few years ago, but going on the fact that it would seem only the radio station was taken down and not the surrounding area - I can't image they have refined EMP to that point so it can be delivered in a bomb/missile and target only a single building without using a direct fire HPM weapon.

 

[epicstruggle]

Cnn is saying that the tv station was also being used for secure military communications, according to a source at the pentagon. Take it as you will but the station was being used to keep iraq under saddams thumb, so hope that it helps people believe he has less control over the country then he did. BTW the iraqi station is back up but only localy in bhagdad.

later,