E-bombed Back into the Stone Age.

Just as a neutron bomb can kill enemy soldiers with minimal damage to surrounding structures, the latest weapon technology -- the electromagnetic bomb -- can "kill" every electrical device within its blast radius while leaving both people and buildings untouched. Also known as an "E-bomb," the device creates an electromagnetic pulse similar to that generated by a nuclear weapon but does so without an actual nuclear explosion. An electromagnetic pulse is capable of shorting out any electrical system that has not been protected, or "hardened," against such damage. Every device with an electrical component, from automobiles to automated teller machines, would be affected. In essence, any city could be E-bombed back into the Stone Age by rendering useless the modern technology that civilization has come to depend upon.

While the E-bomb's anti-technology capability has sparked the interest of the U.S. military, it also makes E-bombs attractive to terrorists. "Any nation with even a 1940s technology base could make them," Carlo Kopp, a high-tech warfare expert, told Popular Mechanics magazine. "The threat of E-bomb proliferation is very real." Popular Mechanics estimates that "a basic weapon could be built for $400." The article in its September issue concludes: "Knock out electric power, computers and telecommunication and you've destroyed the foundation of modern society. In the age of Third World-sponsored terrorism, the E-bomb is the great equalizer."