I recall hearing about the electrical infrastructure warhead in the 1980s at work. It would have been a fairly straightforward development, just explosive and carbon fiber. It would have been typical to keep it classified, once placed in the inventory. I never heard of it since that time. Sometimes weapons go from "This is a crazy idea. Will it work?" to "Wow, it works great. Let's keep it in reserve."
Laser weapons have been in development since the early 1970s. At that time, there was some interest in replacing the tail gun position on a B-52 with a laser installation, but the technology wasn't ready, and the idea was set aside since the tail gun had been taken out of service anyway. In the late 1970s, a NKC-135A Airborne Laser Laboratory (ALL) had been modified with a carbon dioxide gas dynamic laser and dorsal-mounted pointer-tracker for experiments in air-to-air weapon operation. During this time, the Air Force had been conducting its "wavelength love affair" (as I call it) by supporting experimentation with different laser beam generation technologies (gas dynamic laser, HF/DF chemical laser, electric gas discharge lasers, iodine chemical laser, and solid-state electrical lasers) moving from 10-micron wavelengths to 1-micron wavelengths. The YAL-1A was a program to develop a system that could intercept theater ballistic missiles, and it demonstrated the capability required---but was canceled and scrapped by President Obama. There were other significant mission applications for that class of system that were bypassed.
“I recall hearing about the electrical infrastructure warhead in the 1980s at work. It would have been a fairly straightforward development, just explosive and carbon fiber.”
We had at one time a weapon system in inventory that operated similarly known as a “CROW” ( Continuous Rod Opening Warhead) basically it would form a circular saw like rod that was designed to cut or shear through targets while in flight. It could have been adapted or modified to produce the infrastructure damaging weapon you describe.
My impression from what I was told is that it was not a particularly monolithic shaped warhead, but a fibrous casing made from very long strands of carbon fiber. The explosion would expand the casing, separate the fibers, allowing them to settle where they may over so many square meters of target area.
Not exactly the power grid per se. More likely specific substations or transformer complexes. It could add up to the same thing, considering how serious it is for everything to be in synch.
I recall hearing about the electrical infrastructure warhead in the 1980s at work. It would have been a fairly straightforward development, just explosive and carbon fiber. It would have been typical to keep it classified, once placed in the inventory. I never heard of it since that time. Sometimes weapons go from "This is a crazy idea. Will it work?" to "Wow, it works great. Let's keep it in reserve."
Laser weapons have been in development since the early 1970s. At that time, there was some interest in replacing the tail gun position on a B-52 with a laser installation, but the technology wasn't ready, and the idea was set aside since the tail gun had been taken out of service anyway. In the late 1970s, a NKC-135A Airborne Laser Laboratory (ALL) had been modified with a carbon dioxide gas dynamic laser and dorsal-mounted pointer-tracker for experiments in air-to-air weapon operation. During this time, the Air Force had been conducting its "wavelength love affair" (as I call it) by supporting experimentation with different laser beam generation technologies (gas dynamic laser, HF/DF chemical laser, electric gas discharge lasers, iodine chemical laser, and solid-state electrical lasers) moving from 10-micron wavelengths to 1-micron wavelengths. The YAL-1A was a program to develop a system that could intercept theater ballistic missiles, and it demonstrated the capability required---but was canceled and scrapped by President Obama. There were other significant mission applications for that class of system that were bypassed.
“I recall hearing about the electrical infrastructure warhead in the 1980s at work. It would have been a fairly straightforward development, just explosive and carbon fiber.”
We had at one time a weapon system in inventory that operated similarly known as a “CROW” ( Continuous Rod Opening Warhead) basically it would form a circular saw like rod that was designed to cut or shear through targets while in flight. It could have been adapted or modified to produce the infrastructure damaging weapon you describe.
My impression from what I was told is that it was not a particularly monolithic shaped warhead, but a fibrous casing made from very long strands of carbon fiber. The explosion would expand the casing, separate the fibers, allowing them to settle where they may over so many square meters of target area.
That’s a plausible weapon design. Short-circuiting the power grid. No EMP required!
Not exactly the power grid per se. More likely specific substations or transformer complexes. It could add up to the same thing, considering how serious it is for everything to be in synch.