Electromagnetic Pulse effect on Fly By Wire?

[Metro752]

What effect would an Electromagnetic Pulse have on fly by wire airplanes? Besides toasting most electronics, what about the flight controls? Are you screwed?


http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/fs-1037/dir-013/_1938.htm

electromagnetic pulse (EMP): 1. The electromagnetic radiationmedium. The resulting electric and magnetic fields may couple with electrical/electronic systems to produce damaging current and voltage surges. May also be caused by nonnuclear means. [JP1] 2. A broadband, high-intensity, short-duration burst of electromagnetic energy. (188) Note: In the case of a nuclear detonation, the electromagnetic pulsefrequency spectrum. Most of the energy is distributed throughout the lower frequencies between 3 Hz and 30 kHz.

Defense Special Weapons Agency
http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/congress/1997_h/h970716u.htm

............It is interesting to note that exactly 52 years ago to the day, the world's first nuclear device was exploded at Trinity site, located on an isolated stretch of New Mexico desert in what is now the White Sands Missile Range. Among the team who witnessed that momentous event was Enrico Fermi, nobel laureate and perhaps the most brilliant of the Manhattan Project physicists. It was said that he was probably the last man of the twentieth century who actually knew all of the physics of his day. I mention it because it was Enrico Fermi who, prior to the Trinity Event, first predicted that nuclear explosions were capable of generating strong electromagnetic fields. Since then we have learned a great deal more about nuclear-induced electromagnetic phenomena and, in particular, about the phenomenon of high altitude Electro-Magnetic Pulse, commonly called "EMP."..............

High Altitude EMP​

..........A nuclear weapon detonated at high altitude releases some of its energy in the form of gamma rays. These gamma rays collide with air molecules and produce what are called Compton electrons. The Compton electrons, in turn, interact with the earth's magnetic field, producing an intense electromagnetic pulse that propagates downward to the earth's surface. The initial gamma rays and resultant EMP move with the speed of light. The effects encompass an area along the line of sight from the detonation to the earth's horizon. Any system within view of the detonation will experience some level of EMP.



For example, if a high-yield weapon were to be detonated 400 kilometers (250 miles) above the United States, nearly the entire contiguous 48 states would be within the line-of-sight. The frequency range of the pulse is enormously wide -- from below one hertz to one gigahertz. Peak electric fields can reach tens of thousands of volts per meter. All types of modern electronics are potentially at risk, from Boston to Los Angeles; from Chicago to New Orleans..................

Los Alamos Article
http://www.lanl.gov/news/index.php?fuseaction=nb.story&story_id=7642&nb_date=2005-12-12

The potential threat to the United States from an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack is the topic of a classified Director's Colloquium Wednesday by Laboratory weapons scientist Michael Bernardin.

Bernardin, of Thermonuclear Applications (X-2), will speak at 1:10 p.m., in the Administration Building Auditorium at Technical Area 3. Bernardin's talk is entitled, "Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack."

A recently completed congressional commission study assessing the nature of the high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (EMP) threat to the United States has found that EMP is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences. The commission found that EMP has the potential to damage electrical power systems, electronics and information systems upon which American society depends -- to the point where an attack could have irreversible effects on the country's ability to support its population, according to Bernardin. Furthermore, the commission concluded that an EMP attack might result in the defeat of U.S. military forces................

THREAT POSED BY ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE (EMP) TO U.S. MILITARY SYSTEMS AND CIVIL INFRASTRUCTURE
http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/security/has197010.000/has197010_1.HTM

..............In stark contrast, high-altitude burst, detonated a few hundred kilometers above the surface of the Earth, has as its salient featured effect the ability to simultaneously bathe an entire continent in EMP. The ability of EMP to induce potentially damaging voltages and currents in unprotected electronic circuits and components is well-known. The immense footprint of EMP can therefore simultaneously place at risk unhardened military systems, as well as critical infrastructure systems to include power grids, telecommunication networks, transportation systems, banking systems, medical services, civil emergency systems and so forth.

Another potentially devastating, but less well-known effect of high-altitude nuclear bursts is the artificial pumping of the Van Allen belt with large numbers of electrons. The bomb-induced electrons will remain trapped in these belts for periods exceeding a year and in fact up to several years.

All unhardened satellites in low Earth orbit traversing these enhanced belts can be expected to demise from the total ionizing radiation dose in a matter of days to weeks following one such high-altitude burst. A knowledgeable adversary, armed with a few nuclear weapons, might seek to exploit any such perceived vulnerability, thereby severely degrading the significant U.S. technological advantage built on a foundation of sophisticated electronic systems.

This year's National Security Strategy for a New Century, issued by the White House, warns against the likelihood of an adversary using asymmetric means that avoid our strengths while exploiting our vulnerabilities.

To quote from the report, ''Because of our dominance in the conventional military arena, adversaries who challenge the United States are likely to do so using asymmetric means, such as weapons of mass destruction.''.................

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Edit: I just found this
Fly-by-optics

Fly-by-optics is sometimes used instead of fly-by-wire because it can transfer data at higher speeds, and it is immune to electromagnetic interference. In most cases, the cables are just changed from electrical to fiber optic cables. The data generated by the software and interpreted by the controller remain the same.


I may have answered my own question, but what other effects would an EMP have on modern airliners?

 

[FN FAL]

What effect would an Electromagnetic Pulse have on fly by wire airplanes? Besides toasting most electronics, what about the flight controls? Are you screwed?




?
Edit: I just found this
Fly-by-optics

Fly-by-optics is sometimes used instead of fly-by-wire because it can transfer data at higher speeds, and it is immune to electromagnetic interference. In most cases, the cables are just changed from electrical to fiber optic cables. The data generated by the software and interpreted by the controller remain the same.


I may have answered my own question, but what other effects would an EMP have on modern airliners?

Fly by optics isn't necessarily immune, just the optics part. In order for the light source to be immune and the light receiver to be immune, they would have to be hardened against EMP or use vacuum tubes for their circuitry.

In other words, the source and the receiver probably have solid state circuitry involved. From what I remember in my reading on EMP, vacuum tubes were less prone to EMP.

So, unless you got a monkey on the end of the joystick shining a flash light at another monkey operating the bell crank of a control surface, you most likely have some chips and transistors doing a majority of the work in a fiber optic set up.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I don't know jack S*&^T about jack S^#%# here, but flight control computers manage the fly by wire systems, and those computers would be toast. There is a mechanical backup on the C-17 flight controls. The real problem would be that whole dual EEC failure and all four engines flaming out thingy. The RAM air turbine would not be able to deploy either, so even backup flight controls would be inoperative. It would be a mad dash for the parachutes in the closet.

 

[Blue Dude]

Gut reaction? We'd be f**ked. A large scale EMP attack would really screw up aviation, but even a "small" ground based attack would probably cripple airborne aircraft within the terminal area. Forget 9/11, that would be just a taste of the kind of chaos we're talking about.

Older aircraft designs would be OK. Maybe they'd have to dead stick them in, maybe not. But by and large they'd be in decent shape. Their careers might be gone forever, but they'd probably survive.

Fly by wire is another story. An A320 would be left without engines, instruments or primary flight controls. At best, we'd have the rudder, the horizontal stab (manual trim), manual gear extension, manual brakes, and on some aircraft, standby instruments. I'm not sure anything else on the plane would work at all. I gave some thought about practicing that exact scenario in the sim, but came to the conclusion that unless the aircraft was already clean and had a lot of energy already (i.e. cruise flight), then there isn't much point because there's very little you can do except hopefully avoid killing people on the ground.

 

[FN FAL]

I don't know jack S*&^T about jack S^#%# here, but flight control computers manage the fly by wire systems, and those computers would be toast. There is a mechanical backup on the C-17 flight controls. The real problem would be that whole dual EEC failure and all four engines flaming out thingy. The RAM air turbine would not be able to deploy either, so even backup flight controls would be inoperative. It would be a mad dash for the parachutes in the closet.

Ha, in the caravan all I'd have to do if it was IMC in daylight conditions is dead reckon over to Lake Michigan, do a blind let down until I got a visual on the water, head back inland and contact fly until I got to the non-towered field in my home town. Hoof it on foot to the dwelling and get busy loading magazines.

Yall fadec boys can take your first lesson as a paracadista, I'm going home.

 

[Whistlin' Dan]

According to the PAX briefing given on virtually every airline prior to take off, some kid listening to a 1.5 volt, .02 milliamp Mp3 player can "interfere with the communication and navigations systems of the aircraft." If that's true, I guess we'd all be toast if anything really serious were to occur. At the very least, we'd be unable to talk or find our way around.

FWIW - There's a great movie called "Nukes in Space" that deals with this very subject. It's part of a collection available on DVD. The companion pieces ("Trinity and Beyond-The Atomic Bomb Movie" and "Atomic Journeys-Welcome to Ground Zero") are also highly recommended. As I recall, the AEC detonated a nuke over the Pacific in the early 60's that knocked out communications over a large area for about 8 hours. It also caused massive power disruptions over a similarly wide area.

It's pretty scary stuff, especially now that some highly unstable, nut-case countries are developing the technology to both produce and deliver such weapons

Ha, in the caravan all I'd have to do if it was IMC in daylight conditions is dead reckon over to Lake Michigan, do a blind let down until I got a visual on the water, head back inland and contact fly until I got to the non-towered field in my home town.

It should be real easy to find one, since (if my understanding of this is correct) ALL fields are going to be "non-towered" after they bust one of these puppies in space.

 

[boost]

I just saw a show the other day on this exact same thing. I can't remember if it was on the military, discovery or science channel but it was one of those. I think it was called Future Weapons and is hosted by a former Navy SEAL with a shaved head.
Anyway basically it was pretty eye opening. Those EMPs basically fry anything electronic and I could think of nowhere worse to be at the time of attack then in our beloved glass aircraft. It was interesting though when the host drove a car through a small scale EMP test facility out at white sands. The car shut down of course and could not be restarted but the power windows still worked off the cars battery power. Basic wires and batteries aren't affected. So it seems that maybe you could be fortunate enough to at least have battery power in a plane as well. Still wouldn't do much without any flight controls, but at least it might help. If an attack happened at night, good luck landing anyway as everything would be pitch black on the ground. This is an altogether frightening scenario. This country could turn into the old west in the blink of an eye.

 

[FN FAL]

This country could turn into the old west in the blink of an eye.

One emp blast properly placed, could in theory take out the un-protected electronics of the entire North American continent.

Laptops and computers, phones, two way radios, am-fm radios, televisions, microwaves, pda's all shot.

Why do you think companies lease out space in the underground salt mines out west to store records?

To top it off, the food in your refrigerator would last a day or two at the most. If you're lucky, you got a fresh LP tank on your gas gril...cooking could be come pretty tough with an electric stove if the power grid goes fubar.

Water? You better be filling your bathtub full blast before other people get the idea or you'll be drinking the water in the back tank of your commode before you know it. A water bed could become a great source of water, but it would still need to be made drinkable.

 

[HalinTexas]

Any appliance with an unshielded electronic circuit, would most likely be fried. Unless there is dumbed down electonic or mechanical control backup then those things exposed would be toast.

Rember, it's not all that easy to create an EMP on any scale. It takes quite a bit of electrical power or a nuclear explosion to create one. Ground based detonations would be the most likely nuclear scenario, and a fried cell phone will be the least of your worries.

I saw the "Future Weapons" episode spoken of earlier. There was an expert who stated that the former USSR had either an EMP device or a nuclear weapon about the size of a beer can. It's effectivity depends on how long it can remain stable.

I remember years ago the Blackhawk helicopter had a problem with EMP's when they passed near microwave transmission towers. Seems their horizontal stab would be commanded down resulting in crashes.

My guess is that if there is any EMP pulse that it will be local in nature. Your larger companies probably have their systems shielded/protected to some degree and have back ups off site. I'm sure the NYSE and NASDAQ are just a couple.

 

[mannyaplus11]

Everything here is theory at best. Until a rogue nation gets its hands on a nuclear device that can be detonated within our borders, I would say that this just makes for good hollywood drama.

As far as the A-320, it is a neutrally stable aircraft, so, with all flight control computers gone, there is no way to fly the airplane, in fact, you wouldn't even be able to recover with thrust only (like United 242). The aircraft would just maitain its current pitch attitude and either stall or drive straight into the ground. Some older cable aircraft would respond quite well in their manual reversion modes.