Latest / The Infographics Show Podcast / The Most Advanced Weapons the Military Is Hiding from Us

Transcript

The Most Advanced Weapons the Military Is Hiding from Us · The Infographics Show Podcast

• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to Beyond Infographics. You know, we love to
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: take these deep dives, and today we're looking at something
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: that's both kind of exciting and maybe a little bit unnerving.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely unnerving.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: It's that whole world of advanced military technology. And and
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: you know, we we try to go beyond just you know,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: what you see in the headlines and really look at
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: you know, what's out there, both the stuff that we
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: know about and the stuff that's you know, maybe in the.
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: Shadows, the stuff that we think we know about, right.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Exactly, and and and maybe focusing a bit on the US,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: but really thinking about this as a global phenomenon.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, the pursuit of advanced military technology, that's
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: something every nation with the resources to do so is
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: going to be looking into and trying to get that edge.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Right, absolutely, So let's I guess let's start unpacking some
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: of this and I I think you know, when we
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: talk about advanced military capability is one of the first
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: things that comes up to secrecy of course, right, it's like, okay,
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: you need to have some secrecy, you know, you don't
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: want your enemies to know everything you're working on. But
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: where's the line, right, where does that secrecy start to
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: extend beyond you know, just keeping things from your adversaries
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: and maybe start to you know, keep the public in
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: the dark.
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, I mean it's certainly understandable that there needs
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: to be some level of secrecy when it comes to
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: military technology. I mean, surprise can be a decisive factor
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: in warfare, and you know, revealing your capabilities could compromise
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: your strategic advantage.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: But at the same time, you know, in a democratic
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: society where the public is ultimately footing the bill for
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: a lot of this research and development, there's a valid
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: argument to be made for transparency absolutely. So yeah, it's
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: kind of a balancing act.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Right, and I think this is something we'll see come up,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: you know, again and again as we as we kind
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: of dig into this. So one area that I think
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: always kind of captures people's imagination are these directed energy weapons. Yeah,
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: you know, these dgws, the lasers, the energy beams. Know,
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: it sounds very you know, science fiction y, but what's
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: the reality here.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Well, the basic idea behind directed energy weapons is actually
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: not as futuristic as you might think. Okay, I mean,
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: you know, think about the ancient story of archimedes using
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: mirrors to focus sunlight and set Roman ships on fire.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's even evidence that MIT students have you know,
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: tried to recreate that effect. I think it involved a
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: lot of mirrors in a wooden boat. But the basic
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: principle is the same. You know, you're using a focused
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: beam of energy to inflict damage at a distance. And
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: you know, modern times that that translates to things like
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: lasers and microwaves and other forms of energy.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: I mean, and I think when most people think aboutww's,
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: they're thinking about lasers, right, and specifically high energy lasers
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: these hls. And by high energy we're talking you know,
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: lasers that are powerful enough to actually destroy targets. Yeah.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, these aren't your you know, everyday laser pointers were
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: probaking weapons, greed lasers that can you know, take out
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: threats silently at a significant range, right, And these.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Are being actively developed, you know, for things like missile defense.
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, missile defense is a big one. I mean, imagine
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: being able to intercept incoming missiles with a laser being
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: you know, potentially much cheaper than traditional interceptor mists, right,
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: And there's even talk about using them for space warfare,
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: which is you know, a whole other can of worms.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Right, But then you also get into some of these
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: kind of less confirmed, more speculative ideas about potential uses
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: of these weapons. Yeah, And I think a good example is,
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: you know, after the Thomas fire in California, there were
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: some people who were pointing to the unusual burn patterns,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: you know, where some structures were completely destroyed, but nearby
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: vegetation was untouched, right, And they were saying, well, you know,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: could this be evidence of a directed energy weapon?
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: And right, it's like, how can a house be you know,
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: just leveled, but the trees next to it are fine, right, right?
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: And obviously you know that's completely unconfirmed. There's no hard
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: of it as to support that, but of course it
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: does raise those questions right about what could potentially be
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: done with this technology.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and it's important to remember that not all of
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: this is theoretical, right. You know, we are seeing truck
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: mounted laser systems being developed and tested right now, things
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: like the laser of Enginer and the h el MD,
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: which is the High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator. I mean,
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: these are real systems designed to counter threats like drones
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: and you know, smaller aircraft.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Right, So these are things that are out there in
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: the field at least in you know, testing phases being used.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they're moving beyond the lab for sure.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: We've got these lasers. Now, what about some of the
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: other kinds of less visible threats I'm thinking about, you know,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: acoustic weapons and microwave weapons.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: That sounds almost like something out of a spy movie,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: but it.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: Does have that kind of clandestine feel to it, right.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: But yeah, acoustic weapons are a real thing. I mean,
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: we've already got long range acoustic devices lrids in use
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: by law enforcement and so military units for crowd control.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: And while they're often described as communication tools, you know,
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: they can generate sound at levels that are incredibly painful
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: to anyone within their being.
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Right. It's like a really really loud, annoying noise.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: Yes, not something you want to be on the receiving
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: end of.
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: Right. And then there was that whole thing with those
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: US diplomats in Cuba. Oh yeah, you know who were
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: experiencing these mysterious health.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: Issues, right, the have VNA syndrome.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and there was some suggestion that, you know, maybe
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: some kind of acoustic weapon might have been involved.
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a really strange situation. I mean, these
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: diplomats were experiencing a whole range of symptoms, you know,
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: hearing loss, dizziness, cognitive problems, and the investigation suggested that
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: they were likely targeted by some kind of advanced acoustic device,
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: you know, maybe operating outside the normal range of human hearing,
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: but capable of causing real damage.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: But the exact nature of that alleged weapon is still.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: Unknown, so we don't know for sure, right, but it's.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: Definitely, you know, a very real example of the potential
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: for these kinds of unseen threats.
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. And then there's the whole concept of microwave weapons,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: which you know kind of brings to mind stories from
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: the Cold War.
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah. The Cold War was full of these, you know,
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: kind of shadowy stories about microwave radiation and mind control
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: and all sorts of things. Right, But you know, it
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: turns out there was actually some truth to some of
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: those stories, right. You know, during the Cold War, it
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: was discovered that the Soviet Union was directing low frequency
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: microwave radiation at the US embassy in Moscow. Really yeah,
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: and while the power levels weren't immediately harmful, you know,
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: there were concerns within the Pentagon about potential long term
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: health effects and you know, even behavioral changes.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: And this led to a secret project called Pandora, where
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: researchers studied the effects of this type of radiation on primates.
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: Right, so like trying to figure out, okay, what does
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: this actually due to living beings exactly? And you know,
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: we're digging deep into all this really fascinating stuff. And
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: if you're finding this deep dive as in interesting as
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: we are, we'd love it if you could give Beyond
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: Infographics a five star rata.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that helps other people discover the show.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: So what did Project Pandora find out.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: Well, the findings were kind of inconclusive, okay, but the
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: scientist who was in charge of the project, he remained
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: convinced the extremely low frequency or ELF radiation posed a
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: national security risk. Interesting, and it's interesting that you know,
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: the US response at the time was basically to shield
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: the embassy building, right, block it out, Yeah, basically. Yeah,
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: But the concerns about the potential effects of these low
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: frequency waves they haven't really gone away. And you know,
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: subsequent research has suggested that these waves could have subtle
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: effects on the human body. Yeah, you know, potentially impacting
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: things like sleep patterns and other biological processes. So it
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: makes you think, you know, we're surrounded by all theselecromagnetic
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: signals all the time.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, we've got our phones and our wifey,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: and who knows what else.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: Is out there exactly.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: Okay, let's switch gears a little bit and talk about
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: something that sounds, you know, straight out of a James
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: Bond film.
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: Concealment. Oh yeah, I've heard rumors of you know, heart
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: attack guns and other weapons designed to be virtually undetectable, right,
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: is there any truth to that?
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Well, the idea of weapons that are you know, concealed
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: and untraceable has been around for a while, and back
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: in the nineteen seventies, during the Church Committee investigations into
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: potential abuses by intelligence agencies, the existence of a so
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: called heart attack gun was revealed.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: Oh wow.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this was reportedly and modified pistol that could deliver
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: a tiny, almost impossible to detect dose of shellfish toxin
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: into a target. Wow. And the projectile was designed to
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: leave a mark no bigger than a mosquito bite and
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: then dissolve, inducing what would appear to be a natural
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: heart attack.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: That's terrifying.
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: That's pretty chilling concept. And whether such a weapon was
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: ever actually used is still unknown.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: Right, so shrouded in secrecy, as these things tend to
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: be exactly. What about some of the more futuristic sounding weapons,
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: like that magneto hydrodynamic explosive munition Mayhem.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: Mayhem is a interesting one. It's designed to use electromagnetism
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: to propel a stream of molten metal at an armored target,
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: so like a liquid metal bullet, yeah, essentially, And the
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: idea is that it would be more adaptable than traditional
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: armour piercing rounds. Yeah, you know, it could kind of
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: morph and chain shape in flight to defeat different types
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: of armor.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: And it even has a parallel in science fiction. It
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: resembles a weapon that's described in Arthur C. Clark's novel Earthlight.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: Oh wow, I have to check that out.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a good one. And there have even been
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: reports suggesting that China might be working on reverse engineering
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: this kind of technology, which you know highlights the global
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: competition in this field, right.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: Everybody wants to have the latest and greatest, absolutely on
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: a completely different end of the spectrum. I came across
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: something called the golf ball grenade, which.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: Is glulfball grenade.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Sounds kind of ridiculous.
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it sounds like a joke almost, right, But it
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: was a real thing, the V forty mini grenade. It
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: was roughly the size of a golf ball and it
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: was used by the US military for a period. Wow.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: And despite its small size, it was a fragmentation grenade,
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: you know, with a lethal radius of several meters, so.
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: A tiny but deadly grenade exactly.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: But it's very small size and its short fuse actually
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: made it somewhat dangerous for the soldiers deploying it.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: Oh so it could backfire.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, potentially, So it's eventually discontinued.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Right, So not every innovation ends up being you know,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: a long term success, right.
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: Sometimes the ideas that sound good on paper don't quite
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: pan out in reality.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: So what about you know, the push towards non lethal weaponry,
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: I know that's something that's been you know, focus in
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: recent years.
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, there's a lot of interest in developing weapons
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: that can incapacitate targets without causing permanent harm or death. Right.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: And the personal halting and stimulation response rifle or PHASR
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: is a good example of this. What a name, Yeah,
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: it's a mouthful, but essentially it's a non lethal weapon
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: that uses low intensity lasers to temporarily blind and disoriented target.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: So it's like a stun gun but with lasers.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah kind of. And because the effect is temporary and
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: doesn't cause permanent damage, it's considered to be compliant with
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: the UNS Protocols on blinding laser weapons.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Okay, so it meets the you know, the international standards
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: for not being too cruel.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: And then there's the active denial system, which I think
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: is sometimes referred to as the heat ray. Oh yeah,
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: the heat which uses electromagnetic radiation to create like a
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: burning sensation on the skin.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah. It's basically a pain beam, right, and.
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: The idea is to get people to move away from
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: an area without you know, causing them any lasting harm exactly.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: It's a crowd dispersal tool, right, and I know.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: That's been a somewhat controversial technology.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, definitely, but it's an interesting example of a
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: non lethal approach.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: Right. So let's talk about the art of not being
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: seen stealth technology. Okay, you know it's been around for
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: decades now, but are there even more advanced concepts being developed.
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the quest for true invisibility. That's kind of the
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: holy grail of military technology, right, And one concept that's
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: being explored as quantum stealth. Quantum stealth, Yeah, it sounds
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: very sci fi, but it aims to bend light around
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: an object, theoretically making it completely invisible to the naked eye.
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: Wow, like a cloaking device.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, like something out of Star Trek. Right. And
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: then you've got researchers at the University of California, Irvine
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: who are working on what they call invisibility patches.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Invisibility patches, Yeah, These are.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: Based on reflectin, which is a protein found in squid,
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: and they're designed for infrared camouflage.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: So you wouldn't be able to see them with you know,
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: night vision goggles or.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: Right, exactly. And incredibly, the next generation long range strike
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: bomber is envisioned to have a skin that can actually
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: change colors to better blend in with its surrounding environment.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: That's wild.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, imagine a military aircraft that can shift its camouflage
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: depending on the time of day or the terrain below.
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: Like a chameleon.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah exactly. Yeah, it's really pushing the boundaries of what's possible.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: Okay, so we've talked about, you know, things on the ground,
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: things in the air. Let's look upwards now, beyond our
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: asphere into space, because the military's reach definitely extends up there. Oh.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Space is becoming increasingly important as a strategic domain.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: And one concept that's been around for a while is
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: Rods from God, also known as Project.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Thor Rods from God.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a pretty evocative name, it is. And the
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: idea is to deploy dense inert projectiles like tungsten rods
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: from orbit and these rods would then strike the Earth
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: with tremendous kinetic energy capable of causing damage comparable to
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: a small nuclear weapon. Wow, but without the radiation fallout, right.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: So just the kinetic energy of the impact exactly.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: And the sheer cost of such a system has been
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: a major obstacle, but the concept has been revisited periodically.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: So it's still out there.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's definitely still on the drawing board.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: And then there's been these rumors about the US military
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: potentially declassifying information about a super secret weapon designed to
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: target enemy satellites.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a lot of speculation about what that weapon
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: might be. Some experts believe it could be a ground
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: based mobile laser system designed to dazzle or even destroy
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: sensitive components on enemy satellites.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: Others think it might involve deploying radio frequency jammers on
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: US satellites to disrupt communications, or even using high powered
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: microwave systems to fry the electronics of adversary space assets. Wow.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: So a lot of different possibilities.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and most experts believe that a direct kinetic anti
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: satellite missile test like the one that US conducted in
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: two thousand and eight is less likely in the current
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: environment due to concerns about creating long lasting space debris.
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: Right because that would be bad for everybody.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, nobody wants to create a Kessler syndrome scenario where
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: space becomes unusable because of all the debris.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: So maybe more of a focus on more subtle ways
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: of neutralizing or disrupting.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: Those satellites exactly. And the US Space Force has even
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: publicly discussed its silent Barker satellite, which is designed to
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: monitor other satellites in orbit, providing a better understanding of
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: what potential adversaries are doing.
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: Right, So kind of keeping an eye on things exactly.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: And there's also a fascinating DARPA funded concept, sometimes referred
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: to as a satellite.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: Melter satellite melter, yeah, which.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: Would use a focused beam of sunlight to gradually heat
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: an enemy satellite until it malfunctions or falls out of orbit.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: Wow, that's pretty ingenious.
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a longer term, less immediately destructive approach, right,
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: you know, going back a bit in history, the US
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: Navy experimented with flying aircraft.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: Carriers, flying aircraft carrier.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, things like the USS Akron and the USS.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Making huge airships right exactly.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: And DARPA's Gremlins program is revisiting a similar idea by
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: exploring the deployment of drones from conventional.
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: Aircraft, so it's like a carrier but in the air.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: Basically, that's pretty wild. Okay, let's bring it back down
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: to earth a bit and talk about robotics and automation
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: because those seem to be playing an ever increasing role
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: in you know, modern military capabilities.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. I mean, we're seeing the development and deployment of
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: armed robotic systems like the Modular Advanced arm Robotic System
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: or MARES, which can be equipped with a variety of
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: both lethal and non lethal weapons.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: Right, so like a little tank that's remote control, Yeah.
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: Basically, and then you've got things like the hyper Enabled
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: Operator or HO, which is an early concept for a
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: robotic exoskeleton.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: Like an Iron Man suit.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, like an Iron Man suit. And the idea
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: is to significantly enhance the physical capabilities of individual soldiers.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: Right, so give them super strength and.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and protection and all sorts of things.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: That's pretty amazing. But I think maybe the most transformative
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: area is the development of increasingly autonomous unmanned vehicles, you know,
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: drones that are capable of making decisions and taking actions
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: with less human intervention.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah. That's where things start to get really interesting and
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: maybe a little bit scary, right. I mean, we're talking
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: about sentient drones making decisions on the battlefield, and that
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: raises some significant ethical considerations. The growing role of artificial
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: intelligence in autonomous weapons is a major topic of discussion
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: among military strategists and ethicists alike. We're talking about AI
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: power drones equipped with laser technology, facial recognition capabilities, and
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: even the concept of drone swarms where large numbers of
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: drones coordinate their actions autonomously. You know, military planners see
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: the potential to reduce risk to human soldiers, but there
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: are serious concerns about the implications of delegating life and
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: death decisions to machines.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: Right. It's a really tricky issue.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: It is, and it's one that we're going to have
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: to grapple with as these technologies continue to advance.
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, and if you're enjoying this exploration of the future
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: of warfare, please consider giving beyond infographics of five star rating.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: It really helps us out.
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we appreciate it.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: Okay. So we've talked a lot about, you know, these
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: physical and robotic developments, but there's also that whole critical
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: domain of cyber and information warfare, right.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: That's the other side of the coin, and it's becoming
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: increasingly important in modern warfare.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: Cyber warfare encompasses both the ability to launch attacks on
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: an adversary's digital infrastructure and the means to defend one's own.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Systems, right, so both offense and defense exactly.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: And the stucksnat virus which significantly disrupted Iran's nuclear program,
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: is a powerful example of the potential impact of cyber.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: Weapons, right, and that was back in what twenty ten, Yeah.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: Something like that. And the threat has only grown since then, right.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: I mean, now we're talking about, you know, the vulnerability
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: of critical infrastructure like power grids and financial system Absolutely.
• 18:29
  Speaker 2: I mean imagine a cyber attack that takes down the
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: power grid for an entire city or disrupts the global financial.
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: System, right, it could be devastating.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And then there's information warfare, which includes the spread
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: of misinformation and propaganda, as well as efforts to overload
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: and disrupt and enemy's information systems.
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: Right, so kind of messing with their ability to communicate
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: and make decisions.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: Exactly.
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: Wow, it's like a whole other battlefield out.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: There, it is, and it's one that's often invisible to
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: most of us, but it's just as important as the
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: physical battlefield.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Now we've focused a lot on on the US.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: What about other nations? Are they also actively pursuing these
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: kinds of advanced military technology?
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, absolutely. I mean to give you an example,
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: consider Iran. In recent military exercises, they've showcased a number
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: of new domestically produced weapons, including various types of ballistic
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: missiles with increasing range and accuracy, new cruise missiles, including
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: claims of a supersonic version, upgraded air defense systems, drone
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: carriers capable of launching multiple unmanned aerial vehicles, and even
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: new submarines.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: So they're really upping their game.
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a clear demonstration that the development and deployment
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: of advanced military capabilities is a global effort, not limited
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: to just a few major powers.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: Right, so everyone's trying to keep up exactly.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: It's an arms race in many ways.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: Now, there was one thing I came across in my
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: research that was particularly intriguing and mysterious. It's called fog bank.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: Fog bank.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, have you heard of this?
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: I have. It's a fascinating one. What is it?
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: So?
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Fog bank is this highly classified material that was used
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: in US nuclear warheads. And what makes it so remarkable
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: is the extreme level of c COOV surrounding its production process. Okay,
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: it was so secret that over time, the specific details
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: of how to manufacture it were essentially lost. What. Yeah,
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: it's kind of unbelievable. But when a new batch was
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: needed to refurbish older warheads, it required this significant and
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: expensive effort to essentially reverse engineer the original process.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: So we forgot how to make this thing that's like
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: a key component of our nuclear weapons.
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's crazy, right, And while its existence is now
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: publicly acknowledged, its precise composition remains classified, although experts in
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: the field generally believe it to be a type of
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: aerogel that plays a crucial role in triggering the fusion
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: stage of a thermonuclear weapon.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: Wow. That's like something out of a movie.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: It really is.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: Okay. Finally, we can't really talk about shadowy military developments
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: without at least touching on the topic of UFO sightings.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: Right, the UAPs, the unidentified aerial phenomena.
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, is there any connection to advanced military technology there?
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: Well, the recent Pentagon report on UAPs did offer some
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: insights on this, you know. Their assessment was that while
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: many sightings remain unexplained, a significant number could likely be
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: attributed to classified US military aircraft and space technologies being tested.
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: Okay, so like secret projects that people are seeing and
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: thinking they're aliens.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. For example, the notable increase in reported sightings
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: of unusual aircraft in the nineteen fifties and sixties that
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: coincided with the development and testing of advanced reconnaissance planes
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: and experimental saucer shaped aircraft like the avrocar Right, and
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: the report ultimately found no evidence to support claims of
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: extraterrestrial technology, and suggesting that at least some of these
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: seemingly out of this world encounters were likely the result
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: of our own highly secret technological advancements.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: So sometimes the most extraordinary explanations might just be our
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: own secret projects taking to the skies exactly.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: Truth is often stranger than fiction.
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: Well, this has truly been a deep dive into a
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: captivating and sometimes unsettling realm of technology.
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: It has. We've covered a wide array of both alleged
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: and confirmed advanced military technologies, really highlighting the incredible pace
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: of innovation and how quickly the lines between science fiction
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: and reality can become blurred.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: So what's the key takeaway here for you, our listener, Well, I.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: Think it's important to remember that while many of these
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: technologies operate under a veil of secrecy, the pursuit of
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: advanced weaponry is clearly a global imperative driven by the
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: fundamental desires for national security and strategic advantage, and having
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: a grass of these developments, even at a high level,
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: provide crucial context for understanding current geopolitical dynamics.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, and this raises a really important question for you
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: to consider moving forward. As these technologies become increasingly sophisticated
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: and as artificial intelligence plays a larger role, what are
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: the long term implications for human control over these systems
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: and the fundamental ethics of warfare itself.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a critical balance to think about the constant
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: ten between the pursuit of national security and the potential
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: risks that come with these powerful advancements.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: Definitely some profound questions to ponder. Thanks for joining us
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: on Beyond Infographics. We encourage you to continue exploring these
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: topics and delve into any of these areas that particularly
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: sparked your interest. Who knows what other secrets are still
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: out there waiting to be discovered beyond the infographics until
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: our next deep dive