As tensions across the Korean peninsula persist in to simmer , report are now circulating that South Korea ’s military forces are prepared to use so - calledblackout bombsin any future difference . These high - tech weapon have only been used a handful of occasions before – most notably during the last two Gulf Wars and during the struggle in Kosovo – so what exactly are they ?
Classified until only recently , these weapons are emphatically non - lethal . They hold in meg of small particles of chemically treat carbon filament , essentially a type of graphite . The individual particles are smaller than 0.025 mm ( around 0.001 inches ) , which means that they ’re flyspeck enough to be respire in but not necessarily the right sizing to get charge in your lung .
When this strange type of cluster dud detonates , these particles are released into the air as a cloud , which then “ rains ” or dissipate down onto the surrounding landscape painting .
Graphite – thanks to its odd chemical substance structure that allows it to hold back barren electrons – conducts electrical energy with ease . That ’s why these bombs are targeted at major power grids and lines : when these speck make contact , a current flow through them at such extreme temperatures that it mellow part of the mainline wiring , and the system short out . So long as the index line are n’t insulated , these graphite bomb calorimeter can be incredibly effective .
When they were first deployed in the 1990 Gulf War against Iraq by the US Air Force , up to 85 percent of the country ’s electrical supply was knocked out . Similarly , when used by NATO effect against Serbia in 1999 , 70 percent of the nation ’s business leader storage-battery grid was keep out down .
At the time , even after the weapon ’s canisters were locate , no - one was indisputable how they worked . Pentagon spokesman Ken Baconsaidback during the Kosovo War : “ We have sealed weapons we do not think it is appropriate to sing about – and this is one of them . ”
South Korea ’s Agency for Defence Development has been working on them of late , and has , according toYonhap News Agency , almost finalized their variant of the design . It ’s part of the minacious - soundingKill Chain computer program , one which aims to discover an close at hand attempt by North Korea and respond pre - emptively .
Any such first strike by the South would involve taking out as much of the North’sborder artilleryand rocket launching situation as possible , many of which are forever pointing at the capital , Seoul . Blackout bomb could disrupt vital mogul lines that are used by the North to relay commands from the leadership to its military social unit .
At the very least , blackout dud are design to have a psychological burden . Knowing your foe can flip over the electric switch on a country ’s electricity supply is a potent dick , even without it being used .
