CHINA may be plotting to use an electromagnetic pulse weapon that would plunge the US into darkness and kill hundreds of millions, a new report has warned.
Campaign group the EMP Task Force on Homeland and National Security released the paper which details the threat that it warns could come in the form of a nuclear strike from space.
Task force executive director Dr Peter Pry penned the report – first released on June 10 – which warns of a possible “Pearl Harbor-style” preemptive strike in a confrontation between the US and China.
It comes as relations between the two powers remain frosty amid the coronavirus pandemic, which President Donald Trump continues to blame on China.
EMPs use low-yield nuclear weapons detonated in the atmosphere to create a wave of energy that fries electronic equipment and may knock out the power grid.
With no power, the nation would be plunged into chaos which could lead to rioting and famine – potentially killing millions.
Dr Pry – who was chief of staff on the Congressional EMP Commission – is calling on the White House to do more to protect the power grid and other critical infrastructure.
The expert also worked as an advisor to the House Armed Services Committee, and is a former intelligence officer with the CIA.
The EMP Task Force on Homeland and National Security is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to raising awareness of the threat posed by such weapons.
Writing in the report China: EMP Threat, Dr Pry warns he believes a high-altitude EMP is the “most likely kind of future warfare”.
The report lays out suggestions that China have been preparing for such a strike for many years so it can use the capability alongside cyber-attacks.
The task force describes itself as an organisation of “citizens, engineers, field experts, and others, all united in our concern for the American people”.
On its website, it describes the threat of the US power grid crashing as “very real”.
The organisation warns up to 90 per cent of Americans would die within the first year if it went down – a total of 295million people.
Dr Pry warns recent Chinese cyber attacks – should be ” regarded as possible practice or preparation for Total Information Warfare—including nuclear HEMP attack”.
China has “Super-EMP weapons” which are based on a designs stolen from the US, the report claims.
It suggests satellite launched weapons or new hypersonic missiles could act as delivery systems for the EMP which would plunge the US into darkness.
The report warns China’s small nuclear arsenal could become a “giant killer” if it equips missiles with warheads designed for an EMP strike.
Dr Pry also claims China’s self imposed “no first use” policy on nuclear weapons would not apply when launching an EMP.
He warns: “Chinese military writings are replete with references to making HEMP attacks against the United States as a means of prevailing in war.”
The report describes a campaign of “cyber bugs and hacking” as the “tip of the spear” in a Chinese offensive against the US.
The expert compared these information warfare tactics to the “motorcycle troops that preceded the heavy armored divisions in Germany’s Blitzkrieg”.
Dr Pry warns the coronavirus pandemic has “exposed dangerous weaknesses” in the US planning for disasters.
Writing in The Hill, he said: “Hostile foreign powers surely have noticed the panicked, incompetent US response to the virus that shut down a prosperous US economy, self-inflicting the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
“The nationwide lockdowns brought shortages of all kinds, exposing societal and critical infrastructure fragility — and causing widespread fear.”
President Trump signed an executive order last year to try and protect the US from the threat of an EMP.
Posted by Henry Holloway The U.S. Sun
Ya know if they do that they are going to get retaliation from some Ohio class subs. That will take us to a FULL EXCHANGE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS. AND WE HAVE. LIKE 15,000 of them. So place your head tightly between your knees. And KISS YOUR ASS GOOD BYE. 👏 Because nothing on the face of the EARTH WILL SURVIVE.