I watched this the other night. For those of you who haven't seen it, it's presented by a big bald ex-marine bloke with sunglasses and a film trailer voice. It is, of course, American. They were on about EMP weapons, and how EMP can disable any non-hardened electronic device.

They then described how this would cause chaos as vehicles and telecoms would cease to function. And they had a chat about how terrorists don't like America as a rule, and that they reckon the Russians have made and lost or sold a few of the weapons.

Then they got out the scary diagrams showing the areas that would be affected by an EMP weapon. With a detonation at an altitude of 300 miles, an EMP could affect the entire US!

Hang on a minute. Space starts at 60 miles up. And they're making out that some terrorist working out of his garden shed's going to get one to 300 miles? 😆

Of course, the fact that to get a decent EMP effect, you need a nuclear bomb was glossed over a bit.

Make yer own iccle one by using a magnatron from a microwave oven…

Don't think terrorist think more rogue nation. I don't want to get into foreign policy debates but if a certain nuclear armed nation wanted to cock up the americans an exo atmoshperic detonation would do it.

France ?

Granted, the likes of Russia (or anyone with ICBMs and the tech to make a warhead that was EMP focussed) could do it.

But, and this is a big but, if the Russians are launching missiles, we've probably got more to worry about than just EMP (for a start, the US wouldn't know it was an EMP only attack, and would be likely to launch a nuclear counter attack), and the programme was seriously selling this as some sort of terr'rist threat.

I don't think any country would want to take out another entire country in one go. The world economy would seriously tank, and we'd all be equally screwed for money.

Same reason the cold war didn't get very hot. Too much to lose.

Only crazed terrorists would want to do this, but they wouldn't have the capability as the OP pointed out.

Why would you wamt to EMP an entire country though?

Localised EMP strikes on financial centres (i.e. Stock exhange, major business districts, etc) would be easily destructive enough to the economy and wouldn't require nukes or ICBMs.

Apparently.

Jesus who? the taxi driver in Soho called Jesus?

what channel was it on?

I think local councils should dish out tin foil hats every wednesday when they empty the bins. I think EMP weapons are right down there on my list of worries with…
1. reasons my doorbell doesn't ring.
2. That cut in my rear tyre that could possibly kill me. possibly.
3. Damp bit near the end of the bed.
4. Weeds.
5. Recently painted Gloss white paint starting to go a bit yellow.

Recently painted Gloss white paint starting to go a bit yellow.

Cheap paint you tight git.

Actually, I need to repair a hole in one of my doors so the landlord don't notice; what brand was it? I need something that will go yellowish quickly, so the repair matches the rest of the door.

**** ASDA shite quality paint. I'll never work for them ever again until 9.30.
£4 something for a medium sized pot. you can have it if u want.

Ooh ta. I only need a tiny bit anyway. My metal bar what I have behind the door in case of unwanted visitors/bailiffs/Jehova's Witnesses etc fell against the bedroom door and punctured it. Arse.

I'll put a bit on a brush and sellotape the brush on a reeeaaaaly long stick, coming your way! lol!

Nah just paint some on some sellotape and I'll just stick it on. Simple.

Future weapons programme, seen it before – the new sniper rifle that was pretty much a regular gun and had practically no recoil was good – a shame to marvel at such a thing, but the design & engineering that'd gone into it was impressive.

Effin, get some polyfilla, sand it flush & paint the whole door with a tester pot? It's what I did! 😆

All the new oil based paint will yellow within weeks currently. It's all to do with the new 2010 low voc formula.
Unless it's in direct sunlight, Use water based or acrylic if you want it to stay white.

I don't want it to stay white! I want it to yellow to match the rest of the door! So that the repair doesn't show.

why not give the whole door a new coat of white?

So this thread started off about high tech super-weapons and has sunk to debating the best way to paint a door so that it looks like it's not been painted in years?

Awesome. Truly amazing.

And that Mack bloke is apparently an ex-Navy SEAL.

No, it's actually risen from talking about weapons of death and destruction as though they are toys, to a useful and practical discussion on how to do some DIY which is constructive and positive.

I notice in these programmes that they never show the effects weapons have on real people…

I think the general point of an EMP weapon is that it doesn't cause widespread death and drstruction – it just effectively wipes out electronic infrastructure.

I think the general point of an EMP weapon is that it doesn't cause widespread death and drstruction – it just effectively wipes out electronic infrastructure.

I may be over-estimating the importance of electronic infrastructure to the avoidance of death and destruction here, and I appreciate that it's not the same as claiming that the point of a grenade isn't to kill people, just to create an explosion and a shower of sharp shrapnel fragments. But it still doesn't sound terribly cuddly or peaceable. 🙂

Staring at goats on the other hand…

I think the question here is does an EMP weapon turn your recently painted white gloss yellow

Well, I know that the exhaust fan of a Mac Pro causes wallpaper to peel, so maybe, yes.

I think the general point of an EMP weapon is that it doesn't cause widespread death and drstruction – it just effectively wipes out electronic infrastructure.

Planes would fall out of the sky, trains would crash, underground transport services would fail, people on life support would die, as would babies in incubators etc. I doubt an EMP would leave no victims.

I've seen a few of those programs and with 90% of these new weapons development being US in origin, I think they have a bit too much money to spend for deadly toys.

Rather depends how it is targetted to be honest. I seriously doubt an untargetted high altitude nuclear explosion would be the best deployment – it's just the most dramatic for crap tv shows.

Realistically a targetted pulse at command and control structures or important civilian buildings (such as stock exchanges, telecoms, tv stations etc) is far more likely.

We all bang on about elfnsafety, but anything with safety impact e.g. transport, will have a safety case for losing power or losing computer control. It will be designed and tested to fail safely. But no doubt there would be victims as some of those safety cases didn't work out.

reasons my doorbell doesn't ring.

Are you just unpopular?

why not give the whole door a new coat of white?

Ah, the infamous carpet bombing approach…

Because it'll be a right pita to do the whole flipping door, that's why.

I've seen a few of those programs and with 90% of these new weapons development being US in origin, I think they have a bit too much money to spend for deadly toys.

The US spend almost as much on defence as the entire rest of the world do.

The US spend almost as much on defence as the entire rest of the world do.

Which means that they have all the fun toys with the shiny stuff and the cool blue flashing lights, and which is why we get excited about retrofitting old electronics onto helicopters that were designed in the 50s just so that we can use them.

Dammit! I want laser guns! I want hypersonic air travel that can get me to Sydney in two hours! I want to holiday in orbit, or have the chance to do my job from the moon! All this time and _still_ we have not been to Mars.

Hollywood, you have set my expectations far too high over the years.

That wasn't Hollywood, that was The Jetsons.

I think the programme is just an advert for the US arms industry isn't it? Just with a gravelly voice-over, rather than the blood curdling screams of woman and children, and filmed on gun ranges rather than on streets awash with litres of blood and viscera…