Inside the Ring: Brotherhood threat

For the NDU, Gen. Dempsey recently revised the mission of Joint Professional Military Education “to focus on the needs of the joint forces commanders.”

That has prompted “a rigorous mission analysis of priorities, organizations and levels of effort,” including the Institute for National Strategic Studies and the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs, he said.

One official said institute officials are lobbying Congress to prevent being dismantled and are using their China-is-not-a-threat materials to show the center is fighting to block the “China-threat theory” - in the United States. The term originated with China’s communist government to criticize its critics.

EMP WARFARE

Military officials say the threat of electromagnetic pulse weapons in future warfare is growing.

The threat is prompting the Pentagon to take steps to harden its computers and electronics against the devastating effects of EMP weapons, which simulate the debilitating effect on electronics produced by a nuclear blast.

A military source tells Inside the Ring that Russia has already developed battlefield EMP weapons and used them in combat.

During the early 2000s, Russian military forces fired an EMP mortar round that deployed a small metal-coated parachute. As it floated to earth, the EMP energy burst was reflected downward by the underside of the parachute and also spread by the cords attached to the shell. The result was a cone of anti-electronic energy that disrupted all electronics within its area.

The mortar was used by Russian forces to attack hand-held cellular telephones used by Chechen rebels to communicate.

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