More on HPM bombs: Noah Shachtman wrote in to say that they might not be all that they're hyped up to be. On his DefenseTech.org website, one of his reader notes, "while an e-bomb might have some use in knocking out Iraqi communications, it probably wouldn't do much good against Saddam's air defenses. Why? The gear is old, old Soviet stuff, without integrated circuits, most likely -- and therefore, immune to electromagnetic pulses". Plus another reader notes that they are probably not as powerful as claimed in the Time article. (See his 1/19/03 links.)