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Hot Technology Advancement used in the Military
By Ryan Parsons | Associated Press
The Global Hawk in action. The pilotless plane can now be fitted with
weaponry for small scale sorties as well.
Considering we are in a time of war, a war with
very mixed public view, it seems that keeping the casualty number down would
be a primary concern. Well, based on the latest inventions that are beginning
to hit the streets in Iraq, they may do just that.
Robots and Technology Fighting the War in Iraq
We all have seen the UAVs, unmanned arial vehicles, which have been used
for reconossaince and later developed to handle small tactical sorties. Well, it seems that these
guys are just the tip of the iceburg when it comes to the use of technology, or should I say bots, in the
war in Iraq.
When it comes to the UAVs, most have scene pictures of the Global Hawk,
which is known more for high altitude reconossaince. There are even newer,
more easily deployed UAVs called Raven's. These babies, having a wingspan
of only four and a half feet, can basically be thrown in the air to become
operational. However, these unmanned flying vehicles are not simple toys.
With the range of up to nine miles and the flight time of approximately
eighty minutes, the information recovered by these miniature planes can
change the front of war.
Another cool flying bot worthy of mention is the Shadow. The Shadow is a
three-hundred pound remote controled plane that can be launched by catapult
by a small [three man] crew. The shadow does more than just quick reconossaince.
The pilotless plane will circle over a designated area of threat and report
into coalition laptops information on movements and local threats.
These planes aren't the only advances either; unmanned land vehicles have
been growing constantly as well. Vehicles such as the Meerkat and the R-Gator,
whose sole purpose is to check out dangerous areas and handle suspected
explosive devices with only a person at the end of a remote, is also expected
to save large amounts of lives as well. Especially considering that the
number one threat to the troops have been from road-side, and alley-way,
explosives.
To also further prevent improvised explosives [controlled by remote] from
going off when within a proximity to coalition forces is the system most
notably called Warlock. This program, attatched to military Humvees works
as a remote jamming system that causes would be terrorists to lose contact
with their remote detonated road-side bomb, etc.
While this article is written to show some interesting advances in technology,
it also hopes for the added protection offered to coalition troops fighting
in Iraq. Besides limiting casualties on the side of the controller of the
manless vehicles, it is also hoped that a person who is doing 'wrong' will
take notice of the unmanned vehicle buzzing in his/her area, and will just
stop what they are doing and leave. |
Ryan Parsons
Sources: Associated Press
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