From: Al Villalobos (al.villalobos@qm.com)
Date: Fri Apr 07 2000 - 10:20:39 MDT
Steve Puitt wrote:
>Given the demonstration in the gulf war, it would seem unfeasible any
military could launch a credible conventional battlefield assault against
the U.S. and its allies. Weapon development, of course, has not remained
frozen. The autonomous armaments appearing in the pipeline would seem to
increase this likelyhood.<
Absolutely! Not only is it not frozen, buts its accelerating rapidly
compared to rest of the world. The article " Boeing UCAV [Unmanned Combat
Aerial Vehicle?]aims for September rollout" appeared in the March 27th issue
of Aviation week and Space Technology.
Some highlights:
Same wingspan, half the length of an F-16
Weight: 7500 lbs
Weapons payload: 1-3000 lbs
production models 90% composite
Two flying prototypes will be ready to go sometime in September '00
In the April 3rd issue, the Army Battlelab [Do ya think theres a "Peoples
Liberation Army Battlelab" out there? :-)] is developing the "Jedi Vest"
which incorporates a palmtop computer, Iridium-like satellite phone, GPS
reciever, Viper laser range-finder binoculars (with a 3.5km range!!) These
guys will be fully connected to the entire Army battlefield sensor net in
near-real time. Think of the implications. All this is going on right now,
let alone in 2025.
Can you say Kick-ASS!!
Regards,
Al Villalobos
As a result, as many members of the list are probably aware, the military is
beginning to advance their capabilities for conducting urban warfare against
smaller groups. Its usually called MOUT, military operations in urban
terrain. Or something like that. In response, they are initiating
something called the Smart Sensor Web initiative with the purpose of
providing real-time information from an array of sensors down to the lowest
echelons (individual soldiers and squads). The intent is to get inside the
enemey's cycle times, which get shorter all the time.
If these trends continue, it would seem the military is preparing for
singularity-enabled warfare.
Steve Pruitt
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