last blog the semester, yo.

 Technology; the key to communication on a mass scale in a matter of seconds. Imagine the world that has become so reliant on these resources literally at its fingertips having them removed in just a few minutes. The results are unfathomable, yet they can become a reality. Electromagnetic pulse attacks are a warfare technique that targets satellites, a creation that could take warfare to a whole new level, if we let it. Many people in the United States refuse to view the threats that are out there because this nation has the greatest military in the world, now I ask those of you that are listening: what makes it the greatest? The answer is simple, our technology. What would we be without it as a military? What would we be without it as a nation? And what can we do to remove this threat? I give you a look at reality. This nation does not have the world’s  best military. 

In the 1960’s Hawaii had experienced some odd occurrences regarding their technology. It was found by researchers that an EMP had been used on the islands targeting the United States military. The U.S. military itself had not experienced problems, since most of the field equipment and ships exposed to EMP had electronic systems relying on vacuum tubes. In the 1970's, it was discovered that vacuum tubes have about 10 million times more hardness against EMP than integrated solid-state circuitry. Now here is the scary part, all of our satellites use that circuitry and are thereby vulnerable to an EMP attack. 

Iran could potentially cause havoc in the Strait of Hormuz, a strip of water separating Oman and Iran, which connects the biggest Gulf oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.  But its navy would be no match for the firepower of the Fifth Fleet which consists of 20-plus ships supported by combat aircraft. John Daly, Eurasian foreign affairs and defense policy expert in DC, stated last year that Iran has been testing EMP technology in the straights. They know that the fifth fleet could easily have all of its communications neutralized by this asymmetric warfare. I am not saying that this will happen, but imagine if it did. Imagine if any nation used such an attack on our satellites. The economic, social, and political havoc that would take place is chilling. The mere existence of such a weapon should be enough to implant vacuum tubes in our satellites, let alone a direct threat. 

It would cost a lot of money to do this, I won’t lie about that. It will put us further in debt, this is true. Yet what good is an economy when a nation’s security is at stake? Our nation may have a great military, but we have a huge hole that is getting bigger as we expand technological reliance. So, I propose the implant of vacuum tubes, or at least the use of them here on out. This is not the best military in the world… but it can be.