'Clock is Ticking': US Experts Fear China's 'EMP Attacks' Could Lead to Doomsday Scenario

Lately, the hysteria over China's increased military capabilities – for example, in the field of hypersonic weapons – have been ramped up in the American media, with US officials emphasising the need to "catch up" with Beijing.

The US power grid and electronic infrastructure remain vulnerable to the threats posed by new unconventional weapons developed by China, particularly those capable of "electromagnetic pulse" (EMP) attacks, The Washington Times reported, citing American experts.

Among these experts who assembled at a major virtual forum hosted by the Universal Peace Federation was Peter Vincent Pry, the executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security.

According to him, China possesses so-called "super-EMP" weapons – designed to carry out attacks via bursts of energy – and could put them to use against the US, possibly even combining them with other modern unconventional military tactics.

“That poses a real threat of possibly being able to win a war with a single blow by means of an EMP attack. Moreover… they don’t envision employing an EMP by itself. It would be used in conjunction with cyberattacks and physical sabotage, and non-nuclear EMPs,” Pry said at the forum, cited by The Washington Times.

Pry claimed that this may be regarded by countries like Russia, North Korea, and Iran as "potentially the most decisive military revolution in history." He then goes on to offer gloomy forecasts for the future of the United States should it face the alleged "combined EMP cyberattack."

“By attacking the technological Achilles heel of a nation like the United States, you could bring us to our knees and not even have to do battle with the Marines or the Navy or the Air Force, and win a war in 24 hours with a single blow," he claimed.

Other experts cited by The Washington Times pondered an apocalyptic scenario of a year-long blackout caused by an EMP attack, which, according to Pry, could ultimately kill 90 percent of Americans.

“Imagine the president in the situation where the dispute is over Taiwan, or the dispute is with Russia over the Baltic states,” Pry continued. "And they do an EMP [attack] on the United States. What’s the president going to do? Try to go into World War III, which he will surely lose?… Or is he going to use the residual capabilities that we have, especially the military capabilities, to try to recover those critical civilian infrastructures because the clock is ticking toward the deaths of millions of Americans?”

He called on the US government to take more action and strengthen American power grids and related infrastructure so that it's protected against such attacks.

Notably, according to the South China Morning Post, which cites a Chinese military nuclear research institute, the US will allegedly have its infrastructure beefed up by 2032. That could reportedly "tip the strategic balance among world powers" – which is why, the Chinese researchers say, it's Beijing that needs to ramp up efforts to bolster its own defence capabilities to withstand potential future EMP attacks from the US.