The effects of simulated electromagnetic pulse on commercial aircraft

The susceptibility of commercial aircraft to the SEMP (simulated electromagnetic pulse) hazard is evaluated on the basis of the US Army´s AESOP (Army EMP simulator operations) simulator. The following issues are addressed: the AESOP environment at various altitudes, coupling to cables within commercial aircraft, known transient safe levels for commercial aircraft, and determination of threshold levels. Data from, commercial aircraft indicate that civil aircraft critical systems should not be adversely affected by SEMP levels up to about 15 kV/m. This is based on a limited number of data points, however. There is a much larger military database, and it is found from this that perhaps a factor-of-2 margin should be considered to bring the threshold level down to about 8 kV/m