AHC: Bring About Amerika

Find a way for the general timeline of events in the 1980's series Amerika in which the Soviet Union uses an EMP to destroy the power grid of the United States and wins the cold war.
 
Find a way for the general timeline of events in the 1980's series Amerika in which the Soviet Union uses an EMP to destroy the power grid of the United States and wins the cold war.

This seems near ASB. If the Soviets attempted to do that, the only possible result is World War 3. Even if the Soviets had somehow destroyed all nuclear weapons in North America (which seems extremely unlikely - most if not all military electronics are hardened against the threat), there are still plenty in Europe, East Asia and especially at sea to destroy the USSR.
 

jahenders

Banned
Find a way for the general timeline of events in the 1980's series Amerika in which the Soviet Union uses an EMP to destroy the power grid of the United States and wins the cold war.

I don't think you can really achieve that without WW III.

The two things that achieve parts of that (without WW III) might be:
- The Soviets (somehow) secretly deploy a sizable EMP weapon in space such that it's not traceable back to them and the US bears the brunt of the blast. In space, it could likely disable most of the satellites (hurting the US most) and could damage some sensitive electronics in the affected 'cone.' It wouldn't be enough to bring down the power grid, but could cause some serious issues.
- The Soviets use terrorists (not traceable back to them) to simultaneously activate multiple portable EMP devices near key points in the power grid. This won't bring the whole thing down, but it would produce localized disruptions and could potentially create cascade effects that impact large portions of the grid. However, other than some grid equipment near the EMP blasts, this would only impact the grid for a few days.
 
Tom Clancy plot: sometime after the test ban treaties, Soviets manage to infiltrate Hanford or Pantex or GE Pinellas, etc. and make undetectably flawed components that will cause all our warheads to be fizzles.

[ It was 1979. War was beginning. ]

"Red Phone On. We get call!"
"How are you Jimmy Carter? All your states are belong to us."
"Brezhnev!"
"You have no chance, make your time."
"Launch every ICBM. For great justice!"
"Someone disabled us the Bomb!"
 
This seems near ASB. If the Soviets attempted to do that, the only possible result is World War 3. Even if the Soviets had somehow destroyed all nuclear weapons in North America (which seems extremely unlikely - most if not all military electronics are hardened against the threat), there are still plenty in Europe, East Asia and especially at sea to destroy the USSR.

Yup.
Those pesky nuclear subs with trident missles will be around to wreak havoc to matter how many grids you knock out.
 
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