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Technology of Warfare

Sadly, executing war is the driving force behind technology

Nov 7, 2006

Gunpowder revolutionized warfare and propelled man into the age of modern warfare. Today we have RPGs, biological weapons and dirty bombs.

11/07/06

Catapults to RPGs & Dirty Bombs

Technology of Warfare Forum

Before gunpowder, man had to use catapults and human powered battering rams to try to breach castle and city walls from close range where archers could defend the walls. Today we have RPGs, biological weapons and dirty bombs.

From The University of Victoria:

Cannon take over

The tide of war turned against the English largely due to Charles VII's creation of the first standing army in Western Europe since Roman times, and his effective use of siege cannons to reduce English strongholds. The introduction of gunpowder revolutionized warfare. Crude siege artillery, used as early as 1326, developed by the mid-15th century into massive cannons able to hurl stones weighing 350 kilograms. Such cannons were instrumental in the Muslim conquest of Constantinople (1453), the mightiest citadel of Western Christendom in the Middle Ages. The fall of Constantinople was such a shock to the Christian world that it is often used as a reference point marking the end of the Middle Ages.

Using gunpowder, cannons and rifles used the black powder to launch a projectile towards its target. Cannons could take down walls at a distance safe from archers just as bows and arrows were impotent against rifles.

From cannons and rifles, warfare evolved to self-propelled rockets that could deliver an explosive right to the target. Today rocket propelled grenades, aka RPGs, allow a solitary user to take out tanks, helicopters and even planes.

Technology to Protect Civilian Targets

I windsurf near the San Francisco International and Palo Alto regional airports. Even before the 9/11/01 terrorist attack on the US, I was worried about how vulnerable commercial aircraft are to attacks from the ground. I grew up in Daly City, California directly below the flight path of commercial airliners flying over the small mountain we lived on. As kids playing "combat" we'd often shoot our pretend machine guns at the commercial jets since they were barely a stones throw away as they roared over us.

One of my biggest fears for the direction of warfare is the direction terrorists have taken in attacking civilian targets. Terrorists hit civilian targets to cause fear and to demoralize the people they hate. Stopping terrorists is creating a completely new industry. As investors, we might find great opportunity investing in these new technology companies. I'd like to use the attached Technology of Warfare Discussion Forum to track this new technology.

More Information

Come join us in our Technology of Warfare Discussion Forum to discuss anything and everything to do with the technology of war.

Free Charts and Other Stuff

Since beating the market is hard for most to do, I recommend a "Core and Explore" approach to investing. Core means place 80 to 99% of your money into a CORE, buy-and-hold, no load, mutual fund portfolio and then EXPLORE with the remainder. To build your core portfolio, I suggest a diversified basket of index funds.

I welcome suggestions for future articles at Kirk's Market Thoughts.

Kirk Lindstrom:

DISCLAIMER: Answers & my words are general in nature, are not meant as specific investment advice, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of anyone but Kirk. Individuals should consult with their own advisors for specific investment advice.

The copyright of the article Technology of Warfare in Investment is owned by Kirk Lindstrom. Permission to republish Technology of Warfare in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Comments

Nov 8, 2006 2:44 PM

<ul><ul><ul> Missiles are identified and tracked, and a High-power Amplifier-Transmitter (HAT) radiates a beam of directed electromagnetic energy to disrupt the missile and divert it away from the target aircraft.</ul></ul></ul>

Why am I maximally skeptical? Perhaps because this was an area that I worked in (off and on) over the years.

<ul><ul><ul> uses high power microwave technology ... Missiles are identified and tracked... </ul></ul></ul>

AKA, radar detection (hopefully, phased array, but NOT cheap). I am sure you are well aware that even a simple shoulder-fired missile can be protected (from detection) by some simple (non-electronic) counter-measures (e.g., an initial 'chaff' missile).

<ul><ul><ul> a High-power Amplifier-Transmitter (HAT) radiates a beam of directed electromagnetic energy to disrupt the missile</ul></ul></ul>

There are lots of problems with that one. First, if the frequencies could be determined (not hard, after the first few 'actions'), the missile could be shielded with a material (e.g., something like aluminum foil, or a suitable 'Faraday cage'). Second, the electronics could be 'hardened' against anything like HAT (the Soviets used modern tube-based electronics). Third, if the missile is also armed to explode on contact (no electronics involved), it would still do considerable damage to whatever it landed on. Fourth, it will likely not work very well, if at all, under rainy conditions- which hardly impede takeoffs and landings. Fifth, because of the way in which the HAT is generated, it probably requires a substantial 'reload' time, so it would have problens if several missiles were fired together or one after the other.

WE HAVE A THREAD LABELLED JUST 'TECHNOLOGY.' THIS POST SHOULD GO THERE. I DOUBT WE WILL GET ALL THAT MUCH ON JUST THIS SUBTOPIC.

Nov 9, 2006 7:12 AM

axolotl :

..........http://www.metalstorm.com The Giant Laser was a very expensive project, but if the enemy can simply put a reflective surface on a missle and thwart it?

Nov 27, 2006 11:52 PM

John_17 :

K.I.S.S."keep it simple stupid" again appears to be the best way to do things, in this case designing wepons see;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment

Jan 5, 2008 1:59 PM

WW1: Experiences of an English Soldier

This blog is made up of transcripts of Harry Lamin's letters from the first World War. The letters will be posted exactly 90 years after they were written. To find out Harry's fate, follow the blog!

http://wwar1.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html

4 Comments