Fort Irwin Explosion & The Pelican

[PhysicsLB]

So when Irwin went boom, how was the pelican not rendered useless from the EMP shockwave? Or was everyone assuming the bombs were nukes when they were conventional warheads? But if that's the case, when Boulder went boom why did they make comments about the fallout path?

Granted, this is a "radio drama" and suspension of disbelief is integral in enjoying the story...but i'm really confused by this.

[Duffusmonkey]

EMP's are most effective on ground targets under the shroud of a airborn nuclear explosion. There is a Military specification on shielding electrical components to protect them from EMP. According to Wikipedia a plain only has to be 6 miles away from a EMP to survive it. If they couldn't survive and EMP then being the pilot of a nuclear bomber would suck!

[Cabbage Patch]

EMP's are most effective on ground targets under the shroud of a airborn nuclear explosion. There is a Military specification on shielding electrical components to protect them from EMP. According to Wikipedia a plain only has to be 6 miles away from a EMP to survive it. If they couldn't survive and EMP then being the pilot of a nuclear bomber would suck!

In addition, EMP tends to be a line-of-sight effect. The Fort Irwin nuke was a ground burst, and Fort Irwin sits in a bowl, sorrounded by lines of hills that would block EMP. As long as the Pelican was on the far side of the first line of hills and flying at low altitude it would be below the line-of-sight of both the EMP and the ionizing radiation from the explosion. The biggest danger to the helicopter would be from the high velocity winds, first forced outward by the explosion, then blasting back inward to fill the vacuum left by the fireball. I think that was covered pretty well in the story.

[CitizenSoldier]

They also stated it was a nuke with a 1.4megaton blast just saying

[PhysicsLB]

Thanks for clearing this up guys, i didnt know fort irwin was in a bowl. That makes much more sense now!