30 or 40 miles up isn't high enough. The atmosphere itself would absorb most of the EMP and dampen it out. You have to be able to lob the nuke well above the atmosphere, 300 to 400 miles before it is high enough to generate a Compton effect over a large enough area of the atmosphere to do any significant damage.
The Iranians are not capable of firing a missile warhead of any kind that high. Nor do they have a nuclear weapon to put on such a missile even if they wanted to. This whole thing is Chicken Little BS and it originated with that attention whore Glenn Beck and his radio/intarwebs empire.
moving on....
:smokin:
Nope. High altitude tests generated EMP at 250 miles altitude, and it is possible to generate EMP at much lower altitudes. Also, small fission weapons are more efficient at producing EMP than large thermonuclear devices. For example, from the wikipedia article on Nuclear electromagnetic pulse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_electromagnetic_pulse)
During Operation Fishbowl, EMP disruptions were suffered aboard KC-135 photographic aircraft flying 300 km (190 mi) from the 410 kt (1,700 TJ) detonations at 48 and 95 km (30 and 59 mi) burst altitudes.[33] The vital electronics were less sophisticated than today's and the aircraft was able to land safely.
[33] Glasstone, Samuel (March 29, 2006). "EMP radiation from nuclear space bursts in 1962". "Subsequent tests with lower yield devices [410 kt Kingfish at 95 km altitude, 410 kt Bluegill at 48 km altitude, and 7 kt Checkmate at 147 km] produced electronic upsets on an instrumentation aircraft [presumably the KC-135 that filmed the tests from above the clouds?] that was approximately 300 kilometers away from the detonations."
Further, from the article cited above:
Thus, low yield bombs at somewhat lower altitudes than 400 km can produce peak EMP fields that exceed those from the 1962 high altitude thermonuclear tests, while still affecting vast areas.
400km is about 248 miles.
This image from the Glasstone article further indicates that EMP can be generated at much lower altitudes:
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WIO0q6UGg5s/TgY0DaP4J4I/AAAAAAAACLM/ZvSBC7Ccy24/s1600/image.GIF)
Notably, both graphs begin with a Height of Burst ("HOB") at 50km, or 31 miles.
So, with all due respect, you are quite wrong on the altitudes necessary for an EMP, and while the Iranians do not currently possess a device - as far as we know - they will probably have one by the time Obastard leaves office, if the Israelis haven't taken care of it themselves.
Nope. High altitude tests generated EMP at 250 miles altitude, and it is possible to generate EMP at much lower altitudes. Also, small fission weapons are more efficient at producing EMP than large thermonuclear devices. For example, from the wikipedia article on Nuclear electromagnetic pulse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_electromagnetic_pulse)
Further, from the article cited above:
400km is about 248 miles.
This image from the Glasstone article further indicates that EMP can be generated at much lower altitudes:
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WIO0q6UGg5s/TgY0DaP4J4I/AAAAAAAACLM/ZvSBC7Ccy24/s1600/image.GIF)
Notably, both graphs begin with a Height of Burst ("HOB") at 50km, or 31 miles.
So, with all due respect, you are quite wrong on the altitudes necessary for an EMP, and while the Iranians do not currently possess a device - as far as we know - they will probably have one by the time Obastard leaves office, if the Israelis haven't taken care of it themselves.
I have no problems with your assessment unlike our other so called "atomic" experts.Excellent. An SA-2 surface to air missile equipped with a 16 kiloton warhead can produce one.
:beer: