Godofredo de Bouillon 🇲🇽🇪🇸 · @g_bouillon
29th Mar 2013 from TwitLonger
Analisis de un ataque a Corea del sur con un pulso electromagnético por el mayor Colin R Miller de la Fuerza Aérea de EE.UU
North Korea Levels the Playing Field
After World War II, a republic was set up in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula while a communist-style government was installed in the north. During the Korean War (1950-1953), U.S. and other United Nations forces intervened to defend South Korea from North Korean attacks. An armistice signed in 1953 split the country in half at the 38th parallel. Since then, South Korea has undergone a technological revolution, which has driven economic growth 18 times that of North Korea, which has descended into poverty.48 That is not to say, however, that North Korea is weak. North Korea has vast conventional forces, declared nuclear weapons, and the resolve to wage full-scale war against both South Korea and the United States.49
The United States and South Korea operate under the terms of the 1954 Republic of Korea-United States of America Mutual Defense Treaty, which binds both parties to defend each other. As part of this commitment, the U.S. maintains approximately 45,000 troops in South Korea with plans to reinforce them with up to 640,000 more, predominantly from USPACOM.50 These troops, and their U.S.-equipped South Korean counterparts, represent a high-tech electronic force that relies on information superiority to overcome the larger North Korean army.
In March 2000 General Thomas Schwartz, then the U.S. commander in Korea, testified at a congressional hearing, "North Korea is the country most likely to involve the United States in a large-scale war."51 North Korea has made it clear that it will strike all U.S. targets with all means if the U.S. strikes first. According to a Korean defense expert, North Korea plans to win without outside assistance through a massive conventional warfare campaign involving tactical aircraft, 600 high-speed landing craft, 140 hovercraft, 3,000 pontoon bridges, 700,000 troops, 8,000 heavy guns, and 2,000 tanks placed in more than 4,000 hardened bunkers within 150 km of the DMZ. North Korea plans to supplement this campaign with weapons of mass destruction.52
In the year 2010, tensions have increased between the United States and North Korea over the latter’s nuclear weapons program. Now in the open, the U.S. has learned that North Korea has many more weapons than
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feared, and recent intelligence indicates that they have sold at least one complete weapon to a terrorist organization. In response, the United States imposes sanctions on North Korea, builds up its troop strength to over 100,000 on the peninsula, and deploys two carrier battle groups to the region. With appropriate computerized mission planning tools in place and all combined and joint forces networked for dominant battlespace awareness and blue force tracking, the alliance is ready to strike. Under the cover of darkness, an all-stealth force of F/A-22s, F-117s, and B-2s strikes North Korea’s nuclear production capability, after which all aircrews return safely to base. Six hours later, just before dawn, an eerie red-orange glow covers the southern sky as a North Korean Taepodong missile, carrying a small nuclear weapon, detonates high above the peninsula’s southern tip. Minutes later, a vast conventional North Korean force emerges from hiding places underground and invades the south.
Even a small, relatively crude nuclear device detonated above the Korean peninsula would generate an EMP with field strength well above 10 kV/m, ensuring wholesale destruction of unprotected electronic systems.53 The first-order effect on coalition forces would be a command, control, and communications (C3) blackout. The EMP would permanently destroy most computers and displays at the joint task force headquarters and combined air operations center and would wipe clean critical magnetically stored data. Radio, satellite, and cell phone communications would be permanently shut down, as well as wireline telephone systems relying on microprocessor control.54
The second order effect would be damage or destruction of major combat systems. Fielded forces would probably realize that something bad was happening but would have no way to access information and command systems to develop situational awareness and execute a response. The EMP would severely degrade the South Korean air defense system, if it did not destroy it all together. It would also immobilize unprotected vehicles (commercial and military) due to failures in electronic ignition systems and/or computerized engine controls. State-of- the-art aircraft such as the F-16, F-117, and F/A-22 would crash due to failure of fly-by-wire flight control systems and full-authority digital engine controls, and those on the ground would be inoperative. The EMP would also affect ships at sea, destroying or debilitating critical early warning radars as well as self-protection and offensive combat systems.
Third order effects would impact every soldier, sailor, airman, and Marine. This deadly shock to the network-centric and digitally magnified Western combat force would give North Korea a massive advantage for at least three reasons. First, North Korea would have achieved both tactical
surprise and information dominance. Second, North Korean forces would likely be less reliant on modern electronics for success, allowing them to withstand the EMP. Third, having foreknowledge of the attack, North Korea would be able to ensure their critical electronic systems were protected via sheltering, shielding, and positioning of the nuclear detonation.