EMP Weaponry - When Will It Appear?

Question

EMP Guns have been tested for several years now, and made something of a hollywood appearance in "The Eraser". But the technology is very real, and working examples have been around for a while using the Gauss effect.

When will this technology be realised on the battlefield?

Edit: More specifically, I mean EMP & MAG guns like Railguns (called so bacuse of the two conductive rails). They use an EMP to fire a slug rather than using an explosive cartridge.

Answer 1

when the relevant governments extract their collective digits

Answer 2

EMP is Electro Magnetic Pulse. In Eraser he had a Railgun, which is a different keetle of fish. If a nuclear bomb, or powerful bomb goes off, then it will generate and EMP, which will disable all electronics. An EMP war could start tomorrow. Theoretically by detonating a nuclear device in the upper atmosphere, taking the world back to the stone age.

Railguns however, have a number of different problems that need to be worked out:
Power requirements- what will power it? at this stage power requirements would be huge.
Weight- The power requirements add to this.....
Durability- Would it survive battlefield conditions-mud, blood and dirt? Probably not.... as it would be a very sensitive prototype...
Collateral damage- If the armour of a tank won't stop a railgun round, what will? What if the fight is near civilian populations....can anyone say humanitarian nightmare?
-to name but a few.

So cool your heels junior...
not for a while yet...

Answer 3

This stuff dates back to 1951 kids. The Police have tested non nuclear devices that could kill the computer of a fleeing vehicle. The non nuclear stuff is short range. The range of NNEMP weapons (non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse bombs) is severely limited compared to nuclear EMP. This is because nearly all NNEMP devices used as weapons require chemical explosives as their initial energy source, but nuclear explosives have an energy yield on the order of one million times that of chemical explosives of similar weight. A high altitude nuke would take out most of the US or Russia. Problem for the attacking nation is that solid state components that survive EMP have been around since the 80's....and are used in many military devices....the guys fixing them do not even know they are EMP protected. Long version of Hell Yes!

Answer 4

Rail guns while not practical for the soldier it is practical for the navy. The next century carrier to replace the NIMITZ class carriers will have rail gun launch catapults. The navy is also trying to make a reliable rail gun to replace the main guns on ships. EMP weapons are not anywhere ready for prime time as the weapon is as much a threat to us as to the enemy. It would disable a lot of our unprotected gear like GPS,hand radio's,trucks and civilian infra structure we would depend on like water and electricity production. So far EMP testing weapons are used to test EMP defenses but this system is big as a house and thus not practical. I quiver to think if there were such weapons and what a terrorist could do with it. Terrorist with nukes would be tame in comparison.

Answer 5

EMP guns are not gonna be portable for a few years yet but EMP bombs are in existence and i suppose that the military have researched into EMP tanks and planes. EMP's are really only a one hit KO move for electronics. I suspect the US could have used them in Iraq or Afghanistan but not enough electronics in the country hope it helps

Answer 6

nope it requires a power source and would be too easy to shield from ( this assumes that you are talking about EMP as in electro magnetic pulse which would disable electronic devices and not some sci-fi imaginary crap ( the only viable EMP source currently is a neutron bomb )

almost sorry i came back - a man portable railgun is flat out impossible - you might want to consider recoil as well as power supply - Hollywood is full of crap like this my favorite is the guys who somehow carry and fire GE gatling guns ( try not to confuse reality and fantasy in the future )

Answer 7

Has been used in modern warfare theatres. While their use and distribution are highly classified, there are viable instances and evidence of them being used against both strategic and individual targets.

According to some reports, the U.S. Navy used experimental E-bombs during the 1991 Gulf War. These bombs utilized warheads that converted the energy of conventional explosives into a pulse of radio energy. CBS News also reported that the U.S. dropped an E-bomb on Iraqi TV during the 2003 invasion, but this has not been confirmed.

Warfare without the gorefare.

Answer 8

emp, microwave guns smart bullets. they can come up with all new gizmos and gadgets to kill more effeciently but its still in the same step backwards as mustard gas was in the first world war. theres only one way to kill a man and thats face to face any other way isn't a kill its a statistic

Answer 9

The answer is that much of the U.S. military equipment is especially made to withstand fighting in a nuclear environment and that includes electronics protection.

Answer 10

I will be very surprised if you get a knowledgeable answer on this forum. Think about what you are asking. This stuff is not only secret in a military sense, but also in a commercial sense.

With that in mind, do you really think that somebody in military research is going to sit down and let us know how progress is going?

I look forward in anticipation....