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Advanced Weaponry
Strategic
Trends
.
Even with the sophisticated technology we possess with modern weapons, the limits of human knowledge and power are manifested by the fact that these very same technologies tend to worsen our problems rather than solve them - man tends to use these advances for evil ends. The biggest limit we face is man’s inability to control himself - man is powerless to control the forces of evil that besiege him. Man has not only developed the power to destroy mankind, but he has done so at a frightful cost. Until the Prince of Peace returns, there will never and can never be universal peace. Man may dream of it all he wishes, but the Bible is very clear - every effort to bring peace without Him can never succeed until they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord
by Dr. Steve
Elwart
In coming years, soldiers who
duck for cover — one of the oldest ploys in combat — will no longer be offered
the sanctuary it has given in centuries past.
While cyber weapons have
taken center stage in the news of late, the world’s military establishments are
still developing new weapons that will do massive physical damage to any
adversary that comes their way.
The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency, better known as DARPA, is developing weapons using
the newest technology, many of which are still classified.
The three basic elements of
the art of warfare are mobility, firepower, and security.
While cyber security encompasses some of these aspects, new weapons to control the land, seas, and air are still needed.
DARPA is coordinating the
activities of several countries to bring innovative weapons into the battle
space.
Traditional weapons are being
refined and enhanced and have capabilities war planners of a generation ago
only dreamed of.
The refinement of weapons,
accordingly, must be studied against a background of whole systems of
penetration and defense.
Weapons alone seldom
determine the issue of battle, particularly when both sides are evenly matched.
The skill with which strategy
and tactics were deployed, the spirit of the commander in directing his troops,
and the precision with which the troops handled their weapons were even
decisive factors in many of the battles mentioned in the Bible.
Ezekiel speaks of God putting hooks into the jaws of
the Scythians and drawing them into a world confrontation, along with all their
“army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour,
even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.”
One must remember the
vocabulary used in Bible translations. Modern warfare may put a completely
different spin on the translation of the verses.
In the above verse, the word “horses”
has also been translated “bird” or “chariot rider.”
In today’s vernacular,
“helicopter” and “tank commander” could easily be used instead of these words.
(Helicopters are known as
“birds” by their pilots and Merkava, the name of Israel’s main battle tank,
means “chariot.”)
Also, could the recent oil
and gas discoveries off the coast of Israel be the spoils that are used to set
the hooks in the jaws of a Russia that, by some accounts, is running out of
these resources?
The weapons of today are
truly frightening in their sophistication and destructive power.
HELLADS
The name of this weapon
invokes impressions of the power this device generates.
HELLADS is an acronym for
High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System.
HELLADS is an advanced laser
system that is being designed to “harness the speed and power of light to
counter multiple threats.”
What sets this weapon apart
is its size. This laser is designed to be a 150-kilowatt weapon that’s light
enough to attach to a fighter jet.
HELLADS will integrate onto
tactical aircraft to defend against and defeat ground threats with minimal
collateral damage.
The laboratory testing on the
weapons system has been completed using a single laser module that successfully
demonstrated the ability to achieve high power and beam quality from a
significantly lighter and smaller laser.
HELLADS development has been
scheduled to be completed at the White Sands Missile Range for ground testing
against rockets, mortars, surface-to-air missiles and to conduct simulated
air-to-ground offensive missions.
HTV-2 Falcon
The Falcon HTV-2 is an
unmanned, rocket-launched aircraft that glides through the Earth’s atmosphere
at Mach 20 (approximately 13,000 miles per hour).
At this speed, the flight
time between New York City and Los Angeles would be less than 12 minutes.
The HTV-2 vehicle flight
mission profile is to be a “data truck” that collects data “in uncertain
circumstances.”
The latest test flight of the
HTV-2 was launched in August of last year.
The HTV-2 glider was to fly
4,800 miles (7,700 km) across the Pacific to Kwajalein Atoll. The launch was
successful, but the mission was not completed as planned.
Reports stated that contact
had been lost with the vehicle 36 minutes into the mission.
The test flight ended when
the computer autopilot had “commanded flight termination.” It was later
reported that the HTV-2 literally flew out of its skin.
The DiscRotor Program
An aircraft capable of
travelling long distances at high speeds with vertical take-off and landing
(VTOL)/hover capability will bridge the gap in helicopter escort and insertion
missions by providing survivability, mobility, and responsiveness for troop and
cargo insertion.
DARPA thinks the DiscRotor
should be capable of 460 mph (740 kph) at 30,000 feet, while retaining the
hover and low-speed characteristics of a helicopter.
The DiscRotor will be capable
of high-efficiency hover, high-speed flight, and seamless transition between
flight states.
The aircraft will be able to
take off and land like a helicopter, but fly horizontally like a conventional
jet.
Transitioning from helicopter
flight to fixed-wing flight is possible by retracting the blades within the
disc.
The DiscRotor’s combination
of high speed for ingress and egress and good high-altitude hover performance
would fit a combat search-and-rescue role.
The initial concept vehicle
approximates the size of a UH-60 Black Hawk-size fuselage.
The SolarEagle
The Vulture Program’s
unmanned SolarEagle aircraft is a platform designed to carry a payload and
remain in the air for up to five years at a time.
SolarEagle is being designed
to perform intelligence, surveillance and communication missions.
The intent of the program is
to act as a low-cost satellite that could also be used to monitor arms treaty
compliance, national border activity, or battlefield surveillance.
The aircraft would be
solar-powered, with a 120-meter wing span. It is designed to operate at
altitudes above 11 miles (18,000 meters). Boeing hopes it will make its first
demonstration flight in 2014.
LANdroids
Closer to earth are new
weapons which will help ground forces stay in contact using a small, secure,
ad-hoc communication system.
iRobot, the company mostly
known for making the Roomba® vacuum cleaner, has been awarded a grant to
develop a LANdroids (Local Area Network droids) system.
The aim was to develop a
communication system by creating pocket-sized robots that soldiers could
scatter as they moved through an urban area.
The robots would each act as
a node in a wireless network. As the soldiers move, the robots would
autonomously move with them, filling gaps in the network.
According to iRobot, the
LANdroid it created weighed around one pound, was highly mobile, and was
self-righting and obstacle climbing.
iRobot has also developed a throwable robot for soldiers that will be available this year. It says the robot could be used to investigate hard-to-access places such as tunnels and ditches.
Smart Ammunition
In warfare, one of the first
things infantry soldiers are taught is to seek cover once the shooting starts.
Since the invention of
projectile weapons (stones, arrows, bullets and artillery), a force that can
shoot from behind cover such as rocks, the rim of a ditch or behind the wall of
the building, can often save itself from death or injury.
Modern technology may make
this basic evasion strategy obsolete.
Smart ammunition may just be what Jeremiah was
describing when he said, “Their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man;
None shall return in vain.”
In the quaint King James, arrows
that do not return in vain mean that they hit their target every time.
An American arms firm, ATK,
and the German company, Heckler & Koch, have designed a weapon that negates
the advantage of cover by borrowing an idea from another arms designer, Henry
Shrapnel.
The XM25, as the new rifle is
known, weighs about 6 kg (13 lb), fires a 25mm round and is accurate up to 500
meters (1,600 feet).
This is over twice the range
of the AK-47, the weapon of choice used by NATO’s adversaries.
What makes this weapon unique
is that it does not have to be aimed directly at the target. The round only
needs to be aimed close to it. Once at its target, the round explodes, just
like Shrapnel’s original artillery shells.
Inside the XM25 bullet is a
small computer that monitors the projectile’s flight and explodes the round
once it reaches its objective.
Someone hiding around a
corner or behind a wall will now be vulnerable to enemy fire.
The United States is now
testing XM25 in Afghanistan.
To date, they have been used
on more than 200 occasions. The program has been so successful that the army
has ordered 36 more of the new weapons.
In coming years, soldiers who
duck for cover — one of the oldest ploys in combat — will no longer be offered
the sanctuary it has given in centuries past.
Is There a Limit?
Even with the sophisticated
technology we possess with modern weapons, the limits of human knowledge and
power are manifested by the fact that these very same technologies tend to
worsen our problems rather than solve them.
This is complicated by the
fact that man tends to use these advances for evil ends.
The biggest limit we face is
man’s inability to control himself.
Despite the Humanist’s mantra
of things getting better in modern times, civilization keeps moving toward ever
more violent societies, toward more terrible weapons of mass destruction and
ways to crush the human spirit.
Even with all the power he
has harnessed, man is powerless to control the forces of evil that besiege him.
Man has not only developed
the power to destroy mankind, but he has done so at a frightful cost.
“Modern weapons can vaporize much of the human
environment, and seem likely to vaporize all of our money even if they are not
used.”
Until the Prince of Peace
returns, there will never and can never be universal peace. Man may dream of it
all he wishes, but the Bible is very clear.
Every effort to bring peace without Him, be it by weaponry or diplomacy, can never succeed, because all the efforts of men are hollow until they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.
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https://www.khouse.org/articles/2012/1079/
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