Robots. Unmanned drones. Smart ammo. These were all concepts not even imagined fifty years ago, but are now all realities. Thanks to modern technology, wars and battles are getting "safer" and a lot easier on the soldiers that are fighting. The battlefields are now all electronic, the weapons are getting a lot more sophisticated, and the soldier as we know it will soon be obsolete.Weapons and weapon systems have been getting better and better since the beginning of civilization as we know it. Humans have gone from slings to bows to guns and beyond. The weapons we use now are state of the art. We have bullets with small microchips in them telling them when to explode. We have unmanned aircraft used for both reconnaissance and for precision strikes. Above all though is the communications on and around the battlefield. instead of just radios, the military uses streaming video, radio, and even text messages.
Sure, most of these new technologies will be used with the military, but many will also make it to the civilian world. One example would be the robot. The military use robots mainly as scouts. They would rather take a robot into a room that they know nothing about than to risk the life of a soldier. Bomb squads have adapted this technology to disarm and take care of bombs without risking anyone's life. There are also advances in concealable body armor. No big shot wants to wear a bulky bullet proof vest. They want something a little less obvious. That's why there are now Kevlar suitcoats, running jackets, and even sweatshirts.
The questions about all of this are: Where will the military go next, technology-wise? Will we ever invent the elusive Star Trek laser? How will future advances affect our daily lives? Will we even have to send actual soldiers into combat?
Some fun/ interesting videos:
Future Weapon Systems: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT1_w2z3C0I&feature=related
Land Warrior System: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8izG26i_lTY
10 comments:
Interesting stuff...ever heard of robot-rat? http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2237-roborat-controlled-by-brain-electrodes.html check out this link...they can move a real life rat around by remote control by placing electrodes in the rat's brain...make it move in different directions and even jump...they say it could be useful for getting to victims in cave-ins/destroyed buildings...but it could be used in other ways too...
Anyway, the Internet itself is a development of defense spending...based on the military's ARPAnet...so a lot of technology we take for granted (GPS in our car or cell, for example) is based on earlier military developments. This is interesting because some of us think technology just develops naturally...from good ideas for humanity...but many of our developments grew out of the technology developed for specific purposes by the military...can you imagine how technology would be different if it were developed by pushes from perspectives different than those held by the military?
Almost every technology we have now was at first developed for military purposes. Even some jobs were created for the military. Some of the first engineers worked for the military. Needless to say whatever the military does will eventually filter down and effect us someway. Hopefully these effects are all positive, but technology is never going to stop. The Star Trek gun I don't know about, technically it's possible but just not able to be compacted that small yet since lasers get very hot and need large heat sinks. Eventually I don't think people will fight our wars, it will probably get to the point that robots fight for us. Some planes are already unmanned as you said. If you have ever seen Honda's robot "Asimo" you know that robots have come a long way. I mean, that thing can run...just imagine it with a weapon in combat...frightening.
War will eventually hit a point of uselessness when it will be robots vs. robots and whose ever robots are better, they will wipe out the others and take over the country. Then shortly there after skynet will be formed and terminators will rise. : ) muhaha.
There are some crazy technologies floating around today, watch a show on the history channel for an hour and you can see what I mean. Things will keep getting more advanced and eventually even bullets will be obsolete and we will have something better. Something to kill others even more efficiently than bullets. It's a sad world.
I think that where the technology will be in a few years from now we will see more and more unmanned machines. Who knows hong long it will take until humans are completely out of warfare, or if they ever will be. Im not sure how crucial the star trek laser would be for our future, but maybe it will show up on eBay one day.
Darknight commented on the "Asimo," that robot created by Honda...I still think this one needs a little work--
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASoCJTYgYB0
Impressive, but not so gracefull. I hope there's a robot paramedic close by.
Nice post and i found it very interesting. I think the military is the leader for our technology and we as citizens get it after they have already had and its been tested by the military. Things such as the gps and what not that we know have in our cars and cell phones have already been used by the military and are some what "old news" to them. The sky is the limit with our technology it seems like something new is ocming out every day there is no telling where it will lead us to.
I think that this goes write along with the last article of technology and I feel the same way about this blog as the last one. I think that military technology will never stop growing and will only continue to amaze us in more and more creative ways. If you look at the time line of history military technology has gotten more and more innovative and there isn't one 5-10 year period that some pretty significant advancement in military technology hasn't taken place. I think anything in technology is pretty capable of happening so I have no doubt in my mind that lasers like in Star Trek are very capable of happening. I believe we're already starting the stage that is taking soldiers out of combat situations because we are already starting the era of using nuclear weapons so I can only imagine what the future holds for military technology.
I think that eventually the military will be able to "fight from afar." I think they will be able to have some sort of robotic machine fighting while they control it from another location. I imagine that this sort of technology will for sure happen, because if you look at all the other technological advances such as cell phones, computers, mp3 players etc. technology advances in the military is definitely on its way if not already.
It's kind of scary to think of the developments that have been made in weapons. Stuff we don't even know about is being developed for mass destruction. I think there needs to be more regulations on this kind of stuff, but that's just me. Even though it would be close to impossible.
The military has been able to create some awesome technology over the years. I think usually what you see in futuristic movies eventually will become a reality some day. Wars are actually becoming safer these days through these advancements in technology. I have no doubt 50 yeas from now the army will look like the clones in star wars. Technology grows so fast its just mind boggling to think what will come out next.
It's all fun and games until someone learns how to hack into one of the Metal Storms and targets our own troops with our own destructive weapons. That would suck. Barret is still the coolest sniper rifle ever though. :D
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