The Graphite pump It is not a new weapon, although unusual. USA used it in the Gulf War 1991 and later during NATO bombings on old Yugoslavia In 1999, in both cases with great success. In the first, this non -lethal weapon managed to disable the 85 % from the Iraq electricity, while in Yugoslavia it reached 70 %. It is not known that it is in any arsenal beyond the American, although South Korea announced some years ago its plans to develop it. This group now expands with the inclusion of China, which for the first time has publicly revealed that it has this type of weapon.
CCTVChinese state television, has broadcast a video, consisting of a computer animation, which shows what it seems to be a new graphite bomb of National Development. This type of unconventional ammunition is designed to use high voltage electrical infrastructure without causing physical destruction.
The images show a missile, launched from a land vehicle, which releases 90 cylindrical submunitions on the target zone. After being released, the capsules bounce when impacting the terrain and then detonate in the air, dispersing chemically treated carbon filaments. These conductive filaments are designed to cause short circuits in transformers, substations and other key components of an electricity network.
China Unveils ‘Blackout Bomb’ Designed to crypt Power Grids
China you have released Fotage of a New Weapon That Coung Change The Nature of Modern Warfare-A So-Called “Blackout Bomb” Capable of Dissabling Enemy Power Infrastructure Without A Single Explosion.
The Video, Aired By … pic.twitter.com/rkvB7MC5DV
– MOFOBIAN (@MOFOBIAN) June 30, 2025
CCTV ensures that the recreated attack affects an area of at least 10,000 square meters and that can cause a ‘Total electricity loss’. In the information the system is attributed to the Chinese Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)a key defense contractor linked to the Ministry of National Defense.
Ammunition can achieve objectives up to 290 kilometers of distance. Your payload is 490 kilograms and can damage several nodes of the network in a single attack.
Chinese television has not referred to it as a Graphite pump expressly, but the medium South China Morning Post He pointed out that Its description coincides with the known operational principles of this type of weapons: Electricity conductive filaments, not lethal, scattered to cause network failure without kinetic damage.
It would not be China’s first ‘blackshop bomb’
He Popular Liberation Army (EPL) Nor has publicly recognized the deployment of this type of weapon, but the comments of experts in defense suggest that Technology is not new in Chinese military circles.
Chen Chundieditor of Modern Shipsa semi -official military publication of China, wrote in 2017 than Graphite pumps They represented a significant advance in non -kinetic war. He described them as ideals to overcome reinforced defenses and achieve strategic paralysis by attacking the networks C4isr: command, control, communications, computing, intelligence, surveillance and recognition.
According to Chen, Previous versions of this type of weapons had already entered service in the EPLwith smaller eyes and more limited coverage. Also proposed integration with wind ammunition dispensers (WCMDa guided system that is added to cluster pumps and submunitions to improve its precision) with satellite guidance Beidou.
‘Modern war no longer focuses on destroying enemy formations’Chen wrote. ‘The emphasis is to disable systems, especially electrical and digital infrastructures, without causing a total scaling of the conflict’.