Newt Gingrich, the Republican presidential hopeful, wants you to know that as commander in chief he is ready to confront one of the most nightmarish of doomsday scenarios: a nuclear blast high above the United States that would instantly throw the nation into a dark age.

The U.S. has built, flown, pointed and triggered a missile designed specifically to carry a directed-energy weapon. That payload, expected to be operational soon, will be able to disrupt, shut down, spoof or damage electrical systems, but little has been revealed about the project.

Rogue states such as North Korea and Iran could use nuclear weapons to attack Britain’s vital communications and electricity networks from space, a security conference heard.

The author examines the validity of the claims that an electo-magnetic pulse bomb presents an immediate threat to U.S. infrastructure, arguing that "advocates for EMP preparation could end up being their own worst enemy.'"

The South Korean military will have an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) bomb in five years that is capable of crippling an enemy's command-and-control, communications and defense radar systems.

Electromagnetic pulse weapons capable of frying the electronics in civil airliners can be built using information and components freely available on the internet, according to counterterrorism experts. All it would take to bring a plane down would be a single but highly energetic microwave radio pulse blasted from a device inside a plane, or on the ground and trained at an aircraft coming in to land.

The US Air Force has launched a competition for a new aircraft demonstrator equipped with a high-powered microwave weapon that can take at least several shots at electronic targets.

The U.S. Air Force wants to develop new high powered microwave (HPM) missiles that are capable of "degrading, damaging, or destroying electronic systems."

The author warns that a single Iranian nuclear missile could be strategically launched over a dense population and economic center in a way that would devastate the U.S. economically and strategically. He argues for multi-layered space-based missile defense as the most robust solution.

A recent U.S. military presentation hinted that the schedule for development of an electromagnetic pulse bomb has been moved up to allow for a demonstrator project sometime next year.