Would the EMP effect be noticeable after the disabled craft performs a lithobraking maneuver? Station this around a gas giant, and there is no evidence for the review board, since the craft falls into the atmosphere and gets crushed.
As to space debris, it would work great around a low-tech system, but a high tech system would likely have a Skysweep program to remove debris from orbit. If they notice a ship dropping off debris, and that debris then does an EMP detonation, that ship will get added to the list of shoot on sight targets.
A laser weapon against an orbiting body would be able to slowly wear away at it. A meson burst would be able to bypass the armor and damage the droid brain eventually.
Since it is an orbiting piece of debris, a kinetic weapon would be able to take it out fairly easily too. Fixed orbit, so you run the math, and fire a shot. The kinetic shot then takes it into a different orbit, either to burn up on reentry, or elliptical. The elliptical orbit can then be steadily adjusted to crash into an uninhabited moon, or into the local star.
If it is really debris, it will continue on its new path. If it is the satellite and tries to adjust its orbit, it has just given itself away.
Todd Kes
--- On Thu, 3/8/12, Tim O'Reilly wrote:
Interesting line of thinking, just a quibble to add tho:EMP doesn't do its damage without leaving evidence behind. The electronic systems are often well and truly fried. Fuses, fusable links, circuit breakers, lightning arrestors etc are all designed to protect equipment and usually do the job but a strong EMP can often(?) / sometimes (?) still fry the electronics nonetheless. As an act of war, this would not be a matter of concern (wow our electronics got fried well pull out the spares quick and get whatever it is on line back and fast, mean time I'll send a runner to notify the captain) but in the economic "war" this would be approaching the criminal - not saying they wouldn't try it, but when you trash a
ship so that it crashes - well the accident review board is going to know that somebody was playing for keeps.just saying
T