Graphite bomb

A graphite bomb is intended to be a non-lethal weapon used to disable an electrical grid.

The bomb works by spreading a dense cloud of extremely fine, chemically treated carbon filaments over air-insulated high voltage installations like transformers and power lines, causing short-circuits and subsequent disruption of the electricity supply in an area, a region or even an entire small country.

However, since water supply systems and sewage treatment systems depend on electricity, widespread outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne diseases, causing large numbers of civilian deaths, have in the past been the direct consequence of this bomb's use.

Graphite is a sufficiently good conductor and the current flowing in the fiber immediately vaporizes it, creating a thin channel of gas, ionized by the high temperature, around the space previously occupied by the fiber.

[citation needed] South Korea has announced plans to build graphite bombs for use against North Korea to paralyse its electric grid in the event of a new war breaking out on the Korean Peninsula,[3] subject to funding from the country's finance ministry.