The US has new intelligence on Russian military capabilities related to its efforts to deploy a nuclear anti-satellite system in space, according to multiple sources familiar with the intelligence.
There are but it’s difficult to match the power of a nuke’s EMP if set off 200km above the surface. It deforms the Earth’s magnetic field, resulting in a very quick induced current from the initial deformation, and a slower one that wrecks power stations at the ends of long power lines as it slowly returns to equilibrium. There’s another surge mixed in there, too, though I don’t recall the specific mechanism that causes it, though it’s similar to a lightning strike’s effect on electronics and could be prevented with a surge protector, if the first one hadn’t already destroyed it.
That’s what I think this is really about. Not disabling satellites (though some would be), but EMPing the entire hemisphere when the grid is absolutely not capable of handling that. Imagine one of those going off Jan 6 2025. Even if government buildings are hardened against EMP (could go either way I suppose), video of what goes on would only get out if a coup fails, and even then only after the fact once the grid has been re-established and who knows what happens in every single city when the trucks can’t bring food in because their electronics are all fried.
I dunno, what you are talking about doesn’t sound new. Just put a nuke on a regular satellite. They already fly in that space. Would it even give off enough radiation to be detected?
Why would you bother with a nuke? Satellites are easy pickings if you can actually hit them.
The nukes in space aren’t intended for space targets, they are intended for earth targets.
The article clearly says the intelligence is that it is not for attacks on humans
This whole article is speculation. I’m speculating that what they are speculating about is bit incorrect, specifically the point you are making.
Probably to EMP pulse a few satellites that werent built rad hard.
Gotta be cheaper ways to generate an emp than nukes.
There are but it’s difficult to match the power of a nuke’s EMP if set off 200km above the surface. It deforms the Earth’s magnetic field, resulting in a very quick induced current from the initial deformation, and a slower one that wrecks power stations at the ends of long power lines as it slowly returns to equilibrium. There’s another surge mixed in there, too, though I don’t recall the specific mechanism that causes it, though it’s similar to a lightning strike’s effect on electronics and could be prevented with a surge protector, if the first one hadn’t already destroyed it.
That’s what I think this is really about. Not disabling satellites (though some would be), but EMPing the entire hemisphere when the grid is absolutely not capable of handling that. Imagine one of those going off Jan 6 2025. Even if government buildings are hardened against EMP (could go either way I suppose), video of what goes on would only get out if a coup fails, and even then only after the fact once the grid has been re-established and who knows what happens in every single city when the trucks can’t bring food in because their electronics are all fried.
I dunno, what you are talking about doesn’t sound new. Just put a nuke on a regular satellite. They already fly in that space. Would it even give off enough radiation to be detected?
Agreed. Something’s not adding up.