Gfyuki

Since most online and media depictions of EMPs run the gamut from devastating annihilation (complete with sparks shooting from every angle) to gentle shutdowns resulting in inconvenient repairs, what's the reality of small-scale EMPs used against military personnel in a vacuum or near-vacuum environment? Would this automatically be a death sentence for the affected troops (as well as leaving them potentially defenseless)? Would spacesuits and personal weapons like particle-wave or Gauss rifles be utterly destroyed or would redundant systems be possible in order to reboot their functionality?

Given the hostile environment in space, preparation for EMP equivalent events is a normal consideration. For example, when a massive CME hits, many satellites have to be rebooted. In short - EMP is a common enough natural event in space that it would be a temporary inconvenience to troops that they train for regularly, independent of it being weaponized. It could prove decisive in specific military actions, buying time for attacking troops to close, but in and of itself would not be a novelty.

EMPs can be astonishingly devastating. The EMP that was created by a test of the atomic bomb 'Starfish Prime' in the Pacific ocean blew out 300 streetlights and disrupted telephone and radio services in Hawaii, nearly 1000 miles away from the blast. Considering that power, it's possible that this technology could be implemented, albeit on a smaller scale. I'm not sure how small or powerful such a device might be, but I think it could work. Now while some minor EMPs only temporarily disrupt the functionality of electronic equipment, more powerful, intentionally weaponized ones could easily completely overwhelm the target circuitry with high currents and would irreversibly melt/fry them. This will not be fixed by a simple reboot. The vulnerable wiring in life support and coil guns would burn out without too much of a fight, and even a small failure in one area in an electronic device has a good chance of causing critical failure down the line. Your enemy space troops are quite doomed. It would seem like an EMP based device to attack enemy troops might be feasible. However, the problem with this EMP based warfare is that it's just so easy to shield anything from an attack. Surrounding the delicate circuitry with a conductive material (or a faraday cage) prevents the pulse from penetrating any further. If such a weapon was widely available, undoubtedly essential items such as the life support on space suits and probably weapons too would be shielded. The only thing that cannot be shielded would be an antenna (you can actually shield them from electromagnetic waves, but that would ruin the point). So in conclusion, your high-power EMP could probably knock out communications, but it isn't likely to do much more than that.

Hope this helps!