warfare operations is growing with every new radio or internet-dependent device that the military acquires.
With its use of electromagnetic pulse weaponry, the military can impact the ability to fly a drone, use GPS, or even drop a smart bomb, but EMP technology doesn’t just represent a weapon for use by the U.S. military. It’s also a potential vulnerability. The U.S. does not have a monopoly on the use of electromagnetic pulse technology. In the last few years, off-the-shelf pieces of wireless communications equipment have allowed everyone, from hobbyists to terrorists, to access the electromagnetic spectrum efficiently, in the form of radio frequency weapons.
The importance of this technology stimulated the Army to establish a new career field dedicated to electronic warfare in 2009. Unfortunately, like so many other aspects of our military, our reliance on electromagnetic pulse technology might be growing faster than our ability to keep defending against it.
Our military is scrambling to develop new tools and techniques that will help it preserve its electromagnetic edge, but that advantage continues to shrink. Soon, our inability to completely control the spectrum might result in a different kind of war as weapons of electromagnetic mass destruction proliferate.
As stated in Cyber Warfare , the electromagnetic pulse capability will go hand-in-hand with newly developed cyber operations. While there are definite similarities, cyber operations have a broader range of capacities than the traditional EMP strategic role, and can support a wider range of operations. Defensively, counter-EMP techniques have a more limited scope than the huge needs to defend our military and critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.
Electronic warfare and cyber warfare are closely related and should be treated as such. The overlap between electronic operations related to drones, communications, and improvised explosive devices on the battlefield, and cyber warfare—which we commonly think of as being about ones, zeros, and hackers, shows our Pentagon is evolving in its view of both fields.
For U.S. soldiers, according to the current approach by our military, electronic and cyber warfare are the same. Eventually, the term cyber or electronic war may become obsolete. It might be time just to call it war. As Albert Einstein wrote:
I know not with what weapons WW3 will be fought, but WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones.
The Impact of Defense Department Budget Cuts
The Defense Department may be facing some of the most significant budget cuts in decades, but many are confident that the Pentagon will develop new cost-effective, and efficient, technologies to fight our enemies.
Speaking at a Bloomberg Government in 2015, research and development leaders from the U.S. Armed Forces all identified their top game-changing technologies.
Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, the chief of naval research, suggested that directed energy via electromagnetic pulse technology— electromagnetic railguns, lasers, and microwaves—would all be significant developments that could place the United States ahead of potential threats.
He said that the USS Ponce, which had an operational, directed energy laser cannon on board, that would fire the weapon at a cost of less than $1 per round. It could be used to take out potential threats, such as an Iranian drones and swarm boats, utilizing its lethal to non-lethal energy spectrum.
A concern of many DOD watchers is that budget cuts could cripple the U.S. military’s hopes for maintaining supremacy in research and technology. One can only hope that the Secretary of Defense will not relinquish our nation’s technological advantage and innovation to the Russians or Chinese.
Limitations of EMP Weapons
The limitations of electromagnetic weapons are determined by weapon implementation, means of delivery, and administration policy concerning rules of engagement. Weapon application will determine the electromagnetic
With its use of electromagnetic pulse weaponry, the military can impact the ability to fly a drone, use GPS, or even drop a smart bomb, but EMP technology doesn’t just represent a weapon for use by the U.S. military. It’s also a potential vulnerability. The U.S. does not have a monopoly on the use of electromagnetic pulse technology. In the last few years, off-the-shelf pieces of wireless communications equipment have allowed everyone, from hobbyists to terrorists, to access the electromagnetic spectrum efficiently, in the form of radio frequency weapons.
The importance of this technology stimulated the Army to establish a new career field dedicated to electronic warfare in 2009. Unfortunately, like so many other aspects of our military, our reliance on electromagnetic pulse technology might be growing faster than our ability to keep defending against it.
Our military is scrambling to develop new tools and techniques that will help it preserve its electromagnetic edge, but that advantage continues to shrink. Soon, our inability to completely control the spectrum might result in a different kind of war as weapons of electromagnetic mass destruction proliferate.
As stated in Cyber Warfare , the electromagnetic pulse capability will go hand-in-hand with newly developed cyber operations. While there are definite similarities, cyber operations have a broader range of capacities than the traditional EMP strategic role, and can support a wider range of operations. Defensively, counter-EMP techniques have a more limited scope than the huge needs to defend our military and critical infrastructure from cyber attacks.
Electronic warfare and cyber warfare are closely related and should be treated as such. The overlap between electronic operations related to drones, communications, and improvised explosive devices on the battlefield, and cyber warfare—which we commonly think of as being about ones, zeros, and hackers, shows our Pentagon is evolving in its view of both fields.
For U.S. soldiers, according to the current approach by our military, electronic and cyber warfare are the same. Eventually, the term cyber or electronic war may become obsolete. It might be time just to call it war. As Albert Einstein wrote:
I know not with what weapons WW3 will be fought, but WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones.
The Impact of Defense Department Budget Cuts
The Defense Department may be facing some of the most significant budget cuts in decades, but many are confident that the Pentagon will develop new cost-effective, and efficient, technologies to fight our enemies.
Speaking at a Bloomberg Government in 2015, research and development leaders from the U.S. Armed Forces all identified their top game-changing technologies.
Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, the chief of naval research, suggested that directed energy via electromagnetic pulse technology— electromagnetic railguns, lasers, and microwaves—would all be significant developments that could place the United States ahead of potential threats.
He said that the USS Ponce, which had an operational, directed energy laser cannon on board, that would fire the weapon at a cost of less than $1 per round. It could be used to take out potential threats, such as an Iranian drones and swarm boats, utilizing its lethal to non-lethal energy spectrum.
A concern of many DOD watchers is that budget cuts could cripple the U.S. military’s hopes for maintaining supremacy in research and technology. One can only hope that the Secretary of Defense will not relinquish our nation’s technological advantage and innovation to the Russians or Chinese.
Limitations of EMP Weapons
The limitations of electromagnetic weapons are determined by weapon implementation, means of delivery, and administration policy concerning rules of engagement. Weapon application will determine the electromagnetic
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