EMP Attacks Via Balloons By Charles Taylor (Florida)
The spy balloon that passed over the US with gay abandon, has raised the issue of whether or not a similar balloon could be used to set off an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon, that would fry US electronics, and according to estimates by the late Dr Peter Pry of the CIA, kill 90 percent of the population from systems collapse. Here are some thoughts that this may be so. Obviously, the systems need to be hardened against such attacks, especially the civilian power grid, and balloons nee to be stopped before entering US air space. I did an internet search about what the Australian government is doing about EMP attacks, but did not come up with anything. The CCP must be laughing.
“The recent sightings of Chinese “spy” balloons over the United States could be test runs by Beijing for a sneak attack on America using small nuclear explosions that set off massive power outages due to electromagnetic pulse bursts.
“High-altitude balloons, such as the one China has floated over mountain state military bases this week, are considered a key ‘delivery platform’ for secret nuclear strikes on America’s electric grid, according to intelligence officials,” the Washington Examiner reported. “Spy balloons, used by Japan to drop bombs during World War II, are now far more sophisticated, can fly at up to 200,000 feet, evade detection, and can carry a small nuclear bomb that, if exploded in the atmosphere, would shut down the grid and wipe out electronics in a many-state-wide area.”
The outlet reported further that a balloon-launched EMP attack threat was initially mentioned by a congressional commission and within the U.S. military a number of years ago. The American Leadership & Policy Foundation noted in a 2015 report written by Air Force Maj. David Stuckenberg, a top EMP expert, that such balloons are a major national security threat because of what they are capable of carrying.
The report, titled “Novel High-altitude Delivery Platforms for Weapons of Mass Destruction/Weapons of Mass Effect,” notes:
Can a state, pseudo-state or non-state actor(s) deliver Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)/Weapons of Mass Effect (WME) to strategically impact America’s infrastructure absent employment of Inter-continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM), SubmarineLaunched Ballistic Missiles (SBLM), or other conventional means? The answer is “yes.” Thus, the feasibility of using novel delivery platforms to achieve offensive capabilities against the United States should be examined and understood by the emergency management and national security communities.
“While legacy and derivative systems such as Russia’s (oceanic multi-purpose Status-6 system) nuclear torpedo continue to present strategic threats to the U.S., their proliferation has proven somewhat predictable over time,” the report continued. “However, the rise of global terrorism has created a new dimension of risk to the U.S. in particular – one that presents itself in a chaotic, innovative and ill-defined manner.
“Consequently, planners should begin addressing novel strategic threats by understanding what can be done rather than what has been done. Such an approach is critically important to protecting America’s society and critical infrastructure,” it added.
“Using a balloon as a WMD/WME platform could provide adversaries with a pallet of altitudes and payload options with which to maximize offensive effects against the U.S.,” Stuckenberg wrote. “A high altitude balloon could be designed, created, and launched in a matter of months. There is nothing to prevent several hundred pounds of weapons material from being delivered to altitude.”
In a short Friday interview with the Examiner, Stuckenberg said: “China’s recent balloon flyover of the United States is clearly a provocative and aggressive act. It was most likely a type of dry run meant to send a strategic message to the USA. We must not take this for granted.”
Democratic and Republican lawmakers are both demanding that the Biden regime explain why the balloon was allowed to enter U.S. airspace in the first place, let alone survive after it was reported by media outlets.
Democratic Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, where the balloon was first reported to be on Thursday, said he’s planning on holding a hearing of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee he chairs to get answers about the balloon incident.
“Montanans value their freedom and privacy and I’ll always fight to defend both,” Tester said Friday. “China’s actions are a clear threat to those values and to America’s national security, and I’m demanding answers from the Biden Administration. I will be pulling people before my committee to get real answers on how this happened, and how we can prevent it from ever happening again.”
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) is also looking for answers after the balloon traversed his state on Friday.
“I’m calling for an investigation and demanding answers from the Biden Admin. on why a Chinese spy balloon was allowed to hover over critical military infrastructure in Missouri and across the interior of the U.S. without any intervention,” he tweeted.
Blackout Warfare: Attacking The U.S. Electric Power Grid: A Revolution In Military Affairs
By Peter Pry
Blackout Warfare: Attacking The U.S. Electric Power Grid A Revolution In Military Affairs
https://www.amazon.com.au/Blackout-Warfare-Attacking-Electric-Revolution/dp/B09DFK4RYY
"Blackout Warfare is the term used in this report to describe a revolutionary new way of warfare planned by Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran that is still little understood in the United States, but poses an imminent and existential threat to Western Civilization.
These potential adversaries plan to use cyber-attacks, sabotage, and electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons in combination to blackout national electric grids to achieve quick and decisive victory.
Blackout Warfare that paralyzes the U.S. electric grid and other life-sustaining critical infrastructures - communications, transportation, natural gas and petroleum, business and industry, food and water infrastructures, and the military - could kill most Americans.
The EMP Commission estimates up to 90% of the U.S. population could die from a nationwide blackout lasting one year. The military would be paralyzed by a nationwide blackout, as CONUS military bases depend for 99% of their electricity upon the civilian electric grid.
For the first time in the West, this report fights back against looming catastrophe by thinking about and planning for Blackout Warfare the way our potential adversaries do."
https://alt-market.us/chinese-spy-balloons-potential-purposes-for-the-high-altitude-invasion/
By Brandon Smith
“My home state of Montana was recently featured in news feeds this week as the first to observe and identify what the US Air Force says is a Chinese spy balloon. The Chinese claim it is a civilian weather apparatus that was blown off course and they expressed “regret” for the event, but the equipment visible in photographs suggests that this is a lie. Beyond that, another similar balloon has been spotted over Latin America – One wayward high tech Chinese balloon might be believable, but two is not a coincidence.
There are numerous theories as to why such a surveillance platform would be used by the CCP and what it is designed to look for, and I thought I would offer a couple theories based on my years of study into similar projects pursued by the US Department of Defense and DARPA.
First, the immediate question is why the Biden Administration has not destroyed the balloon? Why not shoot first and ask questions later? Well, Biden’s silence on this issue suggests he either has no answers or that the truth will make the American public very angry. The most likely reason it has not been shot down is because it is very difficult to shoot down.
High altitude balloons travel at 80,000 to 120,000 feet. The average fighter jet can hit altitudes of 65,000 feet and new generation drones can climb to 50,000 feet. These balloons also emit little to no heat signature, which makes them very difficult to target using missiles. If laser technology exists that has such a range, the US military is not talking about it. It might actually be easier to shoot down a Chinese satellite than one of these balloons.
Is there a way? It could be done perhaps with a missile using a large fragmentation-type warhead, but the White House does not seem too interested in exploring options at this time.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: It appears the balloon has finally been shot down, but only after the device crossed the entire country – Whatever data the platform was meant to collect, China likely has it now].
Another explanation is that the DoD is waiting to see what these balloons do. This is where I would present a few theories as to their purpose. Here is what I think is most likely given the progress of spy balloon technology right now…
Chinese ALTA Balloon Program
For a few years now DARPA has been playing with a concept for high altitude surveillance balloons using a technology called “Strat-OAWL.” Balloons have been fielded for centuries as surveillance weapons, but unpredictable wind and atmospheric changes push the balloons around, making them useless within a coupe of days for any specific region.
To break it down simply, Strat-OAWL is the experimental use of lasers to read wind speed and direction far ahead of a balloon. The balloon then uses that data to increase or decrease altitude to ride airstreams in whatever directing the military wants the balloon to go. This could allow increased navigational control, but the Holy Grail that DARPA seeks is a high alt balloon that can stay in one place indefinitely.
I find this idea impractical, like most DARPA projects, if only because wind currents can change faster than any balloon can adjust altitude, but I do see the potential uses here. The Chinese could unleash hundreds of high flying spy balloons with similar capabilities to spy satellites at a fraction of the cost and with less risk of destruction by enemy fire. The CCP may be attempting to test their own version of the DARPA directional balloon tech, while also waiting to see if the US has the means to shoot down the devices.
Lidar Observation From A Balloon Platform
The Chinese have been messing with lidar technology a lot lately. Lidar uses pulsed lasers to measure small variations in terrain to uncover hidden shapes and structures. It also has a knack for cutting through forest canopy and other obstructions. The problem with lidar is that the platforms commonly used to carry the apparatus are faster moving and only capture a snapshot in time. Also, it cannot see through thick clouds, dust, rain, snow or fog.
NASA and DARPA have both been testing lidar from balloons as a means to keep the lasers in the sky longer above a specific area. The Chinese balloon also looks somewhat similar to the equipment used on European lidar balloon experiments.
A lidar based spy balloon would explain Chinese interest in Eastern Montana, where there are numerous known nuclear missile silos as well as suspected hidden silos. The Chinese balloon did in fact come near at least one known nuclear missile base near Billings. Lidar could be exploited to find hidden bases in the region.
Multispectral Imaging
Much like Lidar, multispectral imaging tech is highly dependent on the platform that it is mounted on. MI is used to measure wavelengths of light that are not visible to the human eye and it is tested in many scientific applications. However, there are military applications, including using MI to discover hidden variations in terrain that do not match the surrounding environment. In other words, its meant to sniff out camouflaged buildings, vehicles, fighting positions, etc.
China launched two satellites for multispectral imaging in 2019 and may now be trying to test the same equipment on balloons. It’s hard to say if they are looking for a unique target, or if they are just establishing baseline image maps to be used in the future for…who knows?
Weapons Delivery Platform
High altitude balloons are cheap and relatively effective surveillance platforms that can be used much like satellites but, with the right equipment, could become far more maneuverable. With the CCP’s limited resources it makes sense that they would be utilizing low-cost and low visibility measures instead of expensive and easier to target long range drones or spy planes.
However, these systems are not just useful for observation – They can also be used to deliver weapons packages, including EMP weapons, nuclear weapons and biological agents. The US has been testing balloons for nuclear delivery ever since Operation Yucca in 1956.
In the event of war between China and the US, the CCP may be looking for a way to strike with weapons of mass destruction with a passive delivery system that’s hard to defend against.
The end goal is difficult to figure out. No doubt, the Chinese expect conflict with the US in the near future. The surveillance may be in preparation for an invasion of Taiwan in the near term (next couple years). Or, the entire circus may just be designed to see how America reacts. So far, the Biden White House has done nothing and has said nothing.”
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