The United States has NNEMP weapons in its arsenal, which can be used for more than just traditional bombs. Nuclear weapons could be deployed tactically to create an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, which could release a powerful EMP large enough to destroy electronic devices and interrupt the power supply in much of the continental United States. This type of attack could cause similar or worse devastation than a nuclear bomb in an American city, and it could even be used as a complement to a nuclear attack. Since the 1950s, electromagnetic weapons have been researched in several countries, and since the 1960s, almost every country with nuclear weapons has developed some way to use their nuclear weapons to carry out an EMP attack if necessary. The book “One Second Later” by William Forstchen described a possible sequence of events that could follow an EMP attack against the United States.
In today's digital age, the ability to instantly disable an enemy's electrical infrastructure would give the attacking army an enormous advantage on the battlefield. In response to these vulnerabilities, the United States Government has created numerous organizations to address the threat of EMPs, including the Commission to Evaluate the Threat that Electromagnetic Pulse Attacks pose to the United States. Fortunately, obtaining a nuclear weapon is extremely difficult, while launching it above the atmosphere is even more so, since it requires rocket equipment that few countries have. Some estimates suggest that reinforcing the power grid against an EMP attack could cost as little as a few billion dollars a year. A successful EMP attack could leave no power for more than a year and cause the United States to return to technology before the industrial revolution for a while. Frank Cilluffo, director of the McCrary Institute for Cyber Security and Crary Infrastructure at Auburn University, said that while an EMP attack would certainly be devastating, it's unlikely that America's enemies would carry out such a blatant attack. We don't have to worry too much about an electromagnetic attack, partly because the main threats come from Russia and China, which are unlikely to attack us.
