Expert warns North Korean satellites could deliver EMP attacks on the US
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Analysis by experts suggests that two North Korean satellites that cross the continental US show the signs of being poised to deliver Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attacks, potentially disabling the American electric grid, causing massive damage and a national emergency.
Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, the executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, a Congressional advisory committee, has come out recently suggesting that these satellites are in an “ideal position” regarding their locations and altitudes to deploy EMP attacks.
Pry, speaking to the conservative news outlet Breitbart, has also stated that Pyongyang’s recent missile tests looked “suspiciously like practice for an EMP attack.” Such an attack would come from a nuclear weapon detonated at a very high altitude, such as one inside an orbiting satellite, resulting in an electro-magnetic blast that could shut down the US power grid and leave the country in a countrywide blackout.
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However, nuclear non-proliferation expert Jeffrey Lewis laughed off these concerns in an interview segment on NPR, giving the example of a test carried out by the US military in 1962 known as “Starfish Prime.” The Starfish Prime nuclear weapon was detonated 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean and was 100 times stronger than “Fat Man,” the bomb detonated over Nagasaki. The test failed to cause any significant damage to the electric systems of the Pacific islands, reportedly only disrupting a single set of traffic lights in Honolulu, Hawaii.
While experts disagree on the eminent threat of an EMP attack, relations between North Korea and the United States are arguably the worst they’ve been since the Korean Conflict, with President Trump stating that a “major conflict” between the two nations is “absolutely possible,” and Pyongyang officials have vowed a “merciless response” to any US aggression.
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