The South Korean government, keen to disable the North Korean regime’s warfighting capabilities with limited impact on civilians, has been developing its graphite bomb capabilities.
Also known as “blackout bombs,” graphite bombs release a cloud of charged graphite filaments that disrupt electrical transmissions when detonated. The end result is a temporary loss of electrical power without destroying infrastructure or causing harm to civilians.
The Telegraph newspaper in the United Kingdom reports:
The weapons have been developed by South Korea’s Agency for Defense Development, Yonhap news agency reported, as one element of the Kill Chain pre-emptive strike program …
The Kill Chain program is designed to detect, identify and intercept incoming missiles in the shortest possible time and operates in conjunction with the Korea Air and Missile Defense system for lower-tier defense against inbound missiles.
Graphite bombs were extremely effective in the 1990 First Gulf War, knocking out about 85 percent of Iraq’s electrical transmission capability in the first few hours of the war.