[01100011]

Non nuclear EMP weapons have existed for years, and that's only the stuff they're talking about publicly. There may be other techniques, say distortion of the Earth's magnetic field to send charged particles toward a target, that we don't know about.

[nradov]

The non-nuclear EMP weapons are very weak and have only minor localized effects. They aren't capable of taking out the power grid for a whole city or something.

And please no one waste our time by claiming that the military has some secret magic EMP technology. The laws of physics impose severe constraints on what can be achieved with conventional explosives in a weapon small enough to put in an airplane or truck.

[01100011]

You only need to take out a few key points to take out the grid. Large scale EMPs are not needed. Knowing which key points to take out is the domain of nation states, but it is absolutely possible.