Today’s post is intended to scare the living crap out of you. Welcome to present day warfare… because we don’t already have enough way to be shitty to each other. Taken straight out of science fiction, here are some contemporary state of the art weapon systems that will give you a chilling glimpse into the future.
Introducing the Super aEgis II, a South Korean (DoDAAM) fully automated turret system, sporting a variety of weapons, designed to engage targets at a range of ~3 km, and can be monitored and operated remotely by technicians safely located miles away. Automated turrets, or sentry guns, aren’t that common outside of movies or videogames, but they are a reality. The intended use of the Super aEgis II is to (unsurprisingly) maintain the standoff between North and South Korea, freeing up manpower and resources, and reducing the number of casualties… well, on one side. But in light of the global economy and nations tightening their borders, I fear it won’t be too long before we see these things pop up on the borders of some, shall we say more paranoid countries… you know, like the ones that would even contemplate constructing fences along their borders.
In stores soon. Look for these bad boys at a border near you!
Uh huh, that’s right folks… we’re talking about laser, radio, microwave, and sonic weapons. (Holy shit!) There is also particle beam weapon technology, but I’m just going to focus on the others because they are actually in use today.
Laser weapons range from high-yield cannons for missile defense or destroying targets, to lower-yield non-lethal weapons such as dazzlers that are used to temporarily blind and disorient people, and overload electronics. Obviously there are some major limitations to laser technology (especially for the high-yield weapons) like the incredible power requirements and a phenomenon referred to as ‘blooming’ wherein the beam begins to cause plasma break down in the air, causing the laser to disperse energy. However, electrolaser technology uses the blooming phenomenon, and sends a powerful electric current down the ionized track of plasma to deliver a high energy, long-distance jolt (and I have to admit that from a purely scientific perspective, that is so freaking cool).
There are defense system that uses microwaves to disrupt the surface-to-air missile guidance systems, and high power microwave systems that can be used to destroy targets at a distance (I wish I was making this up). But most microwave, high-energy radio-frequency, and sonic weapons typically fall into the category of ‘Active Denial Systems (ADS)’, which is a very euphemistic way of saying ‘incredibly painful, non-lethal crowd control’.
Sonic or ultrasonic weapons emit sound waves to disrupt or rupture the eardrums, cause extreme pain or disorientation, and it’s even possible tune the frequency to cause vibration in the eyeballs that will (obviously) distorts vision.
High-energy radio weapons can cause intense pain by increasing skin temperature to ~50 °C at a range of almost half a kilometer... with radio waves... Now, as surprising as this might sound, it is also possible to split the chemical bonds in saltwater using only radio waves, producing a 'clean burning fuel' (which I don't entirely agree with, but I'll leave that for another post regarding greenhouse gasses). Anyway, my point is there is a lot of potential power in radio waves.
Microwave weapons (like the microwave in your kitchen) excite the water and fat molecules in tissue, causing intense pain almost instantaneously. And the longer a person is subjected to the beam, the hotter it gets. But luckily we are assured that microwave ADS have no effect on male fertility, do not cause birth defects, physical damage does not exceed pea-sized blisters, and developing cancer as a result of exposure is very unlikely.
Suffice to say I hope I am NEVER in a position to experience the horror feeling the water in my tissue boil.
Laser weapons range from high-yield cannons for missile defense or destroying targets, to lower-yield non-lethal weapons such as dazzlers that are used to temporarily blind and disorient people, and overload electronics. Obviously there are some major limitations to laser technology (especially for the high-yield weapons) like the incredible power requirements and a phenomenon referred to as ‘blooming’ wherein the beam begins to cause plasma break down in the air, causing the laser to disperse energy. However, electrolaser technology uses the blooming phenomenon, and sends a powerful electric current down the ionized track of plasma to deliver a high energy, long-distance jolt (and I have to admit that from a purely scientific perspective, that is so freaking cool).
There are defense system that uses microwaves to disrupt the surface-to-air missile guidance systems, and high power microwave systems that can be used to destroy targets at a distance (I wish I was making this up). But most microwave, high-energy radio-frequency, and sonic weapons typically fall into the category of ‘Active Denial Systems (ADS)’, which is a very euphemistic way of saying ‘incredibly painful, non-lethal crowd control’.
Sonic or ultrasonic weapons emit sound waves to disrupt or rupture the eardrums, cause extreme pain or disorientation, and it’s even possible tune the frequency to cause vibration in the eyeballs that will (obviously) distorts vision.
High-energy radio weapons can cause intense pain by increasing skin temperature to ~50 °C at a range of almost half a kilometer... with radio waves... Now, as surprising as this might sound, it is also possible to split the chemical bonds in saltwater using only radio waves, producing a 'clean burning fuel' (which I don't entirely agree with, but I'll leave that for another post regarding greenhouse gasses). Anyway, my point is there is a lot of potential power in radio waves.
Microwave weapons (like the microwave in your kitchen) excite the water and fat molecules in tissue, causing intense pain almost instantaneously. And the longer a person is subjected to the beam, the hotter it gets. But luckily we are assured that microwave ADS have no effect on male fertility, do not cause birth defects, physical damage does not exceed pea-sized blisters, and developing cancer as a result of exposure is very unlikely.
Suffice to say I hope I am NEVER in a position to experience the horror feeling the water in my tissue boil.
I’m sure by now everyone has at least heard of combat drones (a.k.a. unmanned combat air vehicles). In the past year alone they have been featured in episodes of 24, Burn Notice and American Dad!. The idea is to bombard the bejesus out of your enemy from well behind enemy lines using a multi-million dollar remote-controlled aircraft with live munitions.
(Toys (1992) anybody?)
To be fair, these vehicles are intended for precision strikes. But amazingly it can be a little difficult to distinguish friend from foe, and to limit collateral damage when you’re miles away looking at everything through a video monitor. Heck, it would be difficult enough to do that when you’re hunkered down behind a wall with people shooting at you (I imagine… never having been in an active war-zone). Long story short, the use of drones for ‘targeted killings’ could be considered a breach of international law unless there is clear accountability (which is difficult with a mix of military and civilians necessary to operate these death-wings) and some means of controlling the carnage.
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So I’m looking at these absolute marvels of technology, and I can’t help but be impressed. I mean… laser canons, microwave crowd control, robotized stationary defense… well done! They’re incredible and cool as crap… and entirely terrifying. But I just can’t help but think about all the money that has been invested in these tools of pain and death, and all the other application we might have found for that money.
I’m not going to hit you with clichés or get too preachy. But I think we could do so much better.
We really need to reevaluate our priorities.
Oh, and just to round things out... here are some examples of comical yet tragic failed weapon system. These include bat and rat bombs, military dolphins, anti-tank dog, and pigeon-guided missiles... no kidding.
I’m not going to hit you with clichés or get too preachy. But I think we could do so much better.
We really need to reevaluate our priorities.
Oh, and just to round things out... here are some examples of comical yet tragic failed weapon system. These include bat and rat bombs, military dolphins, anti-tank dog, and pigeon-guided missiles... no kidding.
That's wicked disturbing. We keep creating ways to further remove people from the act of killing and from the sounds of it turning warfare into a video game.
ReplyDeleteI definitely have to agree that there are much better things this money could have been spent on...