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Hi Ombow, Yes, though with Russia it isn't a new development (EMP weapon). With EMP, all it takes is a relatively small nuclear device detonated in low orbit over the target area, and you knock out the power grid of that area (see Woolsey video below) and it's back to the Stone Age. In addition to the power grid, all non-hardened microelectronics are zapped.

Years ago the main nuclear powers signed agreements to not put nuclear devices into orbit. But this was impossible to enforce, and since neither side trusts the other, it's widely assumed that nuclear devices have been in space for many years. My dad was an engineer involved in developing the early spy satellites (Corona program), and that's basically what he said. He didn't discuss details, but in the early days, the idea was to use small nukes in space to disable the opponent's satellites. But using an orbital nuke to disable your enemy's power grid is so easy to do, and so devastating, each side is forced to have it as a key strategy.

The problem isn't with Russia and China, who have too much to lose by using nuclear weapons (Mutual Assured Destruction). The problem is with the small players like N. Korea and Iran, or possibly a non-state actor or terrorist group with basically nothing to lose. Combine that with our unbelievably vulnerable power grids and electronic infrastructure, and the paradigm that the world has operated under has been thrown on its head. Orbital EMP weapons are the 'great equalizer', by which a small country or group can make moot the largest military powers in the world.

Beyond the power grid itself, the microelectronics we are now totally dependent upon are approx 1 million times more sensitive to EMP than were earlier electrical systems. This includes solar EMP from the sun. A large solar EMP (Carrington Event) hitting the Earth would zap the power grids and microelectronics worldwide. So that's the bigger risk. Scientists estimate that a Carrington size solar EMP hits the Earth every 150 years. The last was in 1859, so we're overdue. In 2012 there was a near miss -

Carrington Event - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event


But the even bigger problem is that in zapping the power grid, the nuclear power plants in operation only have from 2-4 weeks of diesel fuel on-site to run their backup generators to keep the coolant water going to the nuclear reactors. Assuming these back up generators are still functioning after the EMP (doubtful) they will have 2-4 weeks to shut down their nuclear reactors or the cores will quickly overheat and explode ala Fukashima. The US has approx 100 operating nuclear reactors, so imagine 100 Fukashimas exploding. North America will be uninhabitable for thousands of years, as will Europe and most other highly developed areas.

Anyway, by our overdependence on electronics, humanity has painted itself into a corner.

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