Future Weapon Technology

9 Responses

1. Joel A. Deguito Said,

   Your website is very nice I’ve learned a lot..

   Posted on August 7th, 2007 at 1:30 pm

2. Neil Said,

   I was wondering how i can become a member of this site. If you could respond it would be greatly appreciated.

   Posted on June 3rd, 2008 at 10:55 pm

3. Moko Said,

   Excellent little site you’ve got here. I’ve spent half a day just flicking through the articles and watching your vids.

   Well done. I’m surprised there’s not more traffic. I’ll be referring people to here.

   Pete, Brisbane, Australia.

   Posted on September 14th, 2008 at 2:12 am

4. Capt. Said,

   Thanks for checking visiting Future Firepower. To become a member or author please register on the sidebar and be sure to validate your email address upon signing up.

   Posted on December 2nd, 2008 at 2:45 am

5. Chris Said,

   I have an uncle who retired recently as a Colonel from the military. He was part of the reason I became interested in defense technology and wrote a research paper for my English class. Part of our assignment is to also publish it. I enjoy you site and would like to post my paper to your site. I hope you enjoy it. Here it is:
   Today, we are on the breaking edge of technology. We have the ability to make things that we once thought were only possible in fantasy novels. By developing these new technologies, we can help protect ourselves during wars as well as natural disasters. I will inform you of some of these new technologies, such as the Invisibility Cloak, the Silent Guardian, and the Laser Avenger. I will discuss how these technologies can be used not only on the battlefield to help soldiers but also here at home to help prevent loss of life and property. I will prove to you that these new technologies are worth supporting.
   Once only thought to be in such stories as Harry Potter, the Invisibility Cloak has magically appeared in our reality. According to David Smith, a professor at Duke University and author of the Science paper, “the invisibility cloak for visible light could be made within six months” (Bland, Invisibility Cloak Closer Than Ever to Reality). The material that the scientists use to make this invisibility cloak is called metamaterial. “A metamaterial is a material with unique properties that derive from its physical structure, not its chemical makeup.” (Bland, Invisibility Cloak Closer Than Ever to Reality). The way that this unique material manipulates the surrounding light and hides an object from our view is “the microscopic surface of [the] material must be smaller than that of the wave length of [the] light being used.” (Bland, Invisibility Cloak Closer Than Ever to Reality). This makes it different from “Any normal curved material [that] would scatter the light at a variety of different angles. The metamaterial [that is used] instead [reflects the] light back towards the source like a flat surface would do” (Bland, Invisibility Cloak Closer Than Ever to Reality) or it could “channel certain wavelengths of light around” (Bland, Material Could Repel Laser Attacks) an object, thus creating the effect that nothing is there. As we make “Advances in nanotechnology [it is becoming] easier to create ever smaller structures that can [be used to] manipulate ever smaller wavelengths” (Bland, Invisibility Cloak Closer Than Ever to Reality).
   The only downside that the current invisibility cloak, offered by Duke University, has is that “It only works in two dimensions” and “Both the background and the hidden object must also both be wrapped in the metamaterial.” (Bland, Invisibility Cloak Closer Than Ever to Reality). This current downside greatly reduces the uses for the invisibility cloak, but as we continue to develop the technology used for the cloak we will also develop new purposes for the cloak. One of the current uses that the invisibility cloak could be used for would be to “remove cell-phone interference in buildings, letting people have clear conversations even inside an elevator.” (Bland, Invisibility Cloak Closer Than Ever to Reality). Further developing the technologies used for the invisibility cloak would lead to possible uses such as protecting oil rigs and personnel, shore lines, people, and ships. An example would be a ship and a laser. If you hit a normal ship with a laser it would either explode or catch on fire; however, “If you have a ship being hit by a laser, and it was made out of this metamaterial, you could reflect the laser beam” (Bland, Material Could Repel Laser Attacks).
   The technology could also be used to make the battlefield safer for our troops. “The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) – the research wing of the Pentagon – has received the green light for [fifteen] million [dollars] in funding over three years to investigate urban obfuscants.” (Clark). The reason they are putting so much funding into this project is because they hope to “create a protective shield for use by soldiers in urban combat situations.” (Clark). They hope to create “A shield that opens quickly in tight spaces and protects a soldier from enemy fire” (Clark). They also want to make it so that “the soldier beneath” (Clark) the invisible shield would be invisible.
   Another feature they would like to have is to make the invisible shield to “be self-healing, meaning that if a bullet does manage to get through the shield, the material would repair itself.” (Clark). One other feature that could be provided by this device for the military would be to make its vehicles invisible. This would allow the military to move supplies around without being noticed or they could also use it for stealth attacks. For more every day uses, the metamaterial could be used to make more “perfects lens” (Duke University) or it could also be used to remove obstructive objects from views. For example, if you are at a baseball game and there is a pillar preventing you from seeing the whole field. The company could use the material to redirect the light so that there is no pillar and you could see the whole field.
   By definition the Silent Guardian is a protection system that “uses millimeter wave technology to repel individuals without causing injury.” (Raytheon). This gives the Silent Guardian “the tactical ability to control outbreaks of violence, minimize collateral damage and save lives.” (Raytheon). This would make the Silent Guardian ideal for the battlefield as well as at home. The Silent Guardian can help on the battlefield as well as in a hostage situation by allowing the user to separate citizens or captives from either the enemy or the abductor. Other uses include but are not limited to redirecting a stampede, keeping burglars out of your house, protecting troops from sneak attacks, and scaring away hostile creatures.
   The way that the Silent Guardian Protection Systems works is “The system’s antenna directs a focused beam of millimeter wave energy. The beam travels at the speed of light and penetrates the skin to a depth of one sixty-fourth of an inch, producing an intolerable heating sensation that causes targeted individuals to instinctively flee or take cover.” (Raytheon). These targets can be up to “half a mile” away from the Silent Guardian (Hanlon). The reason why the “Silent Guardian does not cause injury [is] because of the shallow penetration depth of the millimeter wave and the safety features designed within the system.” (Raytheon). The millimeter wave has gone “Through government testing [that] was conducted to characterize the effects of millimeter waves on the human body. These tests confirmed the technology’s safety and determined there is a significant margin between safe and harmful exposure levels.” (Raytheon). One of the test subjects, George Svitak who is a Raytheon executive said, “I have been in front of the full-sized system and, believe me, you just run. You don’t have time to think about it – you just run” (Hanlon). Also during the test it was found that “most subjects reached their pain threshold within 3 seconds, and none of the subjects could endure more than 5 seconds.” (Hambling). “Some [of the] volunteers who tolerated the heat may experience prolonged redness or even small blisters” (Hambling). However, “In more than 10,000 exposures, there were [only] six cases of blistering” (Hambling).
   Some are worried about the possibility of eye damage caused by the Silent Guardian; however, it was “found that subjects reflexively [blinked] or [turned] away [from the Silent Guardian] within a quarter of a second of exposure, long before the sensitive cornea [could] be damaged. Test on monkeys showed that corneal damage [, that might occur,] heals within twenty-four hours” (Hambling). Another worry that some have is that the Silent Guardian will cause cancer; however, “after years of study” experimenters say that it “has not been demonstrated to promote cancer.” (Hambling).
   To show its use to the military, the Silent Guardian was used in simulations. “The military simulated crowd control situations, rescuing helicopter crews in a Black Hawk Down setting and urban assaults. More unusual tests involved alcohol, attack dogs and maze-like obstacle courses.” (Hambling). These test show that although the Silent Guardian Protection System can be useful in military settings, they can also be used in local settings. Just like in the simulation, the Silent Guardian could be used to control out of control crowds.
   The next technology is the Laser Avenger by Boeing. Boeing developed the Laser Avenger “to thwart the twin threats of unexploded bombs and intentionally placed IEDs” (Pappalardo). The way that the Laser Avenger works is that it shoots “an invisible beam just a few centimeters in diameter and twenty times hotter than an electric stovetop, the laser [burns] a hole through the casing of artillery and mortar rounds, detonating them more or less instantly.” (Pappalardo). One of the features on the Laser Avenger is a “tracking algorithm that [is] specifically designed to spot and zoom in on small UAVs.” (Sofge). With the laser and the tracking system the “Laser Avenger provides the speed-of-light and ultra-precision capability that the war fighter needs today to safely neutralize improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance.” (Sofge).
   One of the reasons that Boeing invented the Laser Avenger is to allow troops to use “a solid-state direct-energy beam that can explode bombs in the clear before they can take out a convoy.” (Pappalardo). The Laser Avenger is convenient for troops because it can be easily attached to a converted anti-aircraft Humvee. During the testing stages of the Laser Avenger, “Boeing engineers took the time to carve up a pair of grounded unmanned aerial vehicles, hoping to promote the idea that laser-powered weaponry can [also] be used in anti-aircraft and someday even missile defense.” (Pappalardo). Compared to conventional weapons “Boeing claims that [the Laser Avenger] avoids the telltale muzzle flash or smoke trail that could give away the Avenger’s position” (Sofge). This would make it far harder for the enemy to plan a counter attack.
   One of the problems with the current Laser Avenger is that “the low power of the beam severely limits the scenarios in which it would be useful. Its target must be flying low enough to negate cloud cover, close enough to rule out atmospheric disturbance (which can refract the beam), and slow enough for the laser to heat up a crucial flight element.” (Sofge). These limit the scenarios that it can currently be used in. The Laser Avenger would be ideal in the case of drone swarms. This is when “Instead of building a fleet of multimillion dollar UAV’s, insurgents or terrorists could buy radio-controlled choppers and planes – toys, essentially – in bulk.” (Sofge). With contemporary weapons, there could be problems taking out the whole swarm, but this is when the tracking algorithm and the laser of the Laser Avenger would become the ideal weapons to use.
   When I asked my uncle where he saw the future of weapon technology heading, he said “I think the wide range of possible conflicts means that we will continue to see a broad mix of weapons. We will still have tanks, rifles, and fighter aircraft. However, there will be increased emphasis on using technology especially in the areas of intelligence collection.” (Moore). Like many others, when asked how he felt about the development of these new technologies in warfare he said that “It is sad that we need them.” (Moore). I agree with his opinion on these new technologies. Although some like the Invisibility Cloak seem cool, the fact that we need such technologies shows that we are unable to effectively reach the goal of peace. When asked about taking men off the frontline and replacing them with machines programmed to fight the enemy, he said that he thought it was a “Bad idea.” (Moore). He said that “You don’t want to program machines to kill. I don’t ever see a war being strictly machine against machine. At some point, you have to defeat the people to win.” (Moore). Although this was not the answer I was expecting, I can see the logic behind his answer. If you never defeat the enemy, how can you stop them from producing more machines to fight against you? When I asked him if he saw any of these new technologies making war safer his reply took me off guard. He said “No weapon ever makes war safer for soldiers. It can only make it “less safe” for the enemy soldier. Protective equipment can make you temporarily safer but that usually results in weapons technology being invented that can defeat that protective equipment.” (Moore). While I was only thinking of the technological advances making it safer for our troops, I never thought about the opposite side and how it would affect them. One technology that was developed to make guns safer for usage was the fingerprint reader. However, as my uncle pointed out, this technology has a few flaws in its design. “There are some systems that only let a particular user fire them but there have been a lot of bugs with these systems. For example, it also usually means your buddy can’t use the weapon.” Although I agree that not being able to use an allies is a flaw in the weapon, it also means that the enemy will be unable to pick up the weapon and use it against you. When I asked him if he knew about any of the weapons that I covered, he said he was “not familiar” with these systems; however he did give me names of a few other systems that were in the development stages. These systems are “cannons for the mortar, mounted combat system, and the NLOS-C at Watervliet.” (Moore). Although he did not give me any direct information about these systems, it shows that the development of new technologies is never at a standstill.
   These technologies of the future are seen by some as being too dangerous for use. However, by spreading the knowledge of what these new technologies are capable of, we can lessen this fear. These weapons can be used for productive purposes as well as for destructive. Just like all other weapons, it depends on the user of the machine and not the capabilities of the machine. By providing you with more information on the benefits of these weapons, as well as how they work, you can now make a more informed decision on whether or not to support these technologies.
    

   Works Cited
   Bland, Eric. Invisibility Cloak Closer Than Ever to Reality. 15 January 2009. 29 March 2009 .
   —. Material Could Repel Laser Attacks. 26 February 2008. 29 March 2009 .
   Clark, Josh. Is the army testing an invisible tank? 29 March 2009 .
   Duke University. Theoretical Blueprint for Invisibility Cloak Reported. 25 May 2006. 29 March 2009 .
   Hambling, David. Say Hello to the Goodby Weapon. 5 December 2006. 29 March 2009 .
   Hanlon, Michael. Run away the ray-gun is coming: We test US army’s new secret weapon. 2007. 29 March 2009 .
   Moore, Colonel Kevin R. Interview of a Colonel Christopher T. Hintz. 13 February 2009.
   Pappalardo, Joe. Boeing Tests Laser-Mounted Humvee as IED Hunter. 13 November 2007. 29 March 2009 .
   Raytheon. Silent Guardian Protection Systems. 29 March 2009 .
   Sofge, Erik. Killer Lasers Work, but Are They the Best Defense Against UAVs? 3 February 2009. 29 March 2009 .

   Posted on April 24th, 2009 at 4:24 am

6. hadeel Said,

   so sad about u ! invent anything ! WE WILL NOT GO DOWN !

   Posted on July 22nd, 2009 at 9:51 pm

7. SrA_Snuffy Said,

   Not a bad site. Although I would like to see maybe a little about ICBMs. Many don’t reallize the importance of nuclear deterrence in the world these days. It allows the US millitary to manuvre virtually anywhere in the world. It is the Umbrella that we work under; allowing us to take the fight to the enemy, not the other way around. Good job with the site though guys!

   Posted on October 14th, 2009 at 12:57 pm

8. Bob36 Said,

   They suggest that this null hypothesis has withstood all attempts to reject it. ,

   Posted on October 23rd, 2009 at 11:18 am

9. GunPro Said,

   I’m a member, but I still don’t know how to go to the forums.

   Posted on July 25th, 2010 at 3:38 am

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