Weapons are constantly being upgraded and new ones added to the world’s arsenals. There is probably more propaganda attached to new weapons than almost any other area. One country develops a new weapon and immediately stories come out comparing it to the weapons of other countries and telling you why it is superior. Then there are the other stories which tell us why some weapons are inferior. It is hard to get a handle on what is true and what is not true. The second problem is we never know what secret weapons there are, so we are forced to base our opinions on the information at hand which may not be all the information. Sometimes governments are surprised, because they didn’t have all the data on a certain weapon. This seems to be what happened during the Korean War. The United States was surprised at the proficiency of the MIG fighters the communists were using. We adjusted for this eventually.

Boeing received a contract for 90 million dollars from the United States government. They were given the money to develop laser pods to be attached to tactical fighter planes. While this is only an educated guess by some, it is thought the laser pod is the Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD). Northrop Grumman had already been chosen to develop the laser beam director turret. This system is being designed to protect tactical fighter planes from missile hits. Northrop Grumman had been awarded 39.3 million dollars for their part in this development. The work on this weapon is expected to be completed by August 31, 2021. Here is what is unusual about this pod. It seems it will only be used on fourth generation fighters like the F-16 since it would ruin the stealth characteristics on an F-22 raptor and F-35 which are fifth generation planes. Maybe someone will figure out how to incorporate the laser system inside these stealth planes.

Speaking of lasers, the United States is getting ready to put laser mounted weapons on combat vehicles starting in 2017. The United States Army and General Dynamics are developing a short-range laser weapon which would be used to identify and if need destroy drones. It is hoped it will be effective in also destroying mortar shells and other artillery shells. The current thinking is it may be mounted on armored personnel carriers. It is said the weapon might also include a jamming feature which means it could take down a drone without firing a shot. In tests it was successful against drones 21 of 23 times. One can only hope these figures will be improved as the weapon becomes standard issue.

The U-71 is supposedly a top secret aircraft program in Russia and yet some details are being released. It is known as project 4202 and said to be also able to glide and reach speeds of 6,600 miles per hour. It is able to enter near space and claims are being made of super maneuverability. Some are saying this will give Russia the nuclear advantage over us in 2025. Here is the problem with what we are being told about this weapon. It is almost ten years away even if it is ever developed. Another problem for the Russians is we have planes which can enter orbit and have had them for some time. The name of one of the planes is the Aurora and by now there could be many others. They wouldn’t take very long to reach Russia. They could go into orbit and travel about 18,000 miles per hour and then drop out of orbit above their target. The US X-37B space plane is another unknown quantity. Not very much info has been released about it, but it seems to be a robotic spaceship. Perhaps it is capable of carrying nuclear weapons?

 Sometimes a new weapon can be something which neither kills nor maims. In this case it is something which improves our sense of detection. I am talking about a new system which will use virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR). A Ukrainian company named LimpidArmor has developed a Microsoft HoloLens based helmet for tank commanders. This gives the tank commander a 360 degree view of everything around him. It not only includes optical systems, but also thermal. Commanders will no longer have to stick their heads out of the tank to see the things around them. This helmet will have other options added to it in the future like the ability to control weapons and the ability to read the feeds from drones and perhaps planes.

There is a new article on the Veterans Today news site. I cannot verify the validity of it, but it is interesting enough to repeat. It states a couple of months ago an American destroyer was sent into the Black Sea. The ship was equipped with the most recent version of the Aegis system which is used to protect ships. The Russians were said to have sent an unarmed SU-24 aircraft toward the ship. Everything on the ship was working perfectly until the plane came within a certain distance, then the Aegis system shut down. The Russian plane was equipped with their latest jamming tools. The American destroyer was said to have tried to reboot the system several times, but all attempts failed. Maybe the ship was sent there with this purpose in mind to test the Russian jamming and gain data about it so we could modify our systems accordingly. It wouldn’t be the first time things like this have happened.

When Jules Verne wrote the story “From the Earth to the Moon” his assessment of weapons and protection was perfect. The story concerns two men, one a weapons builder and the other an armor maker. Each time the weapons builder’s cannon fails to pierce armor it is made more powerful and each time it does pierce the armor the armor is made stronger. Weapons development is a never ending game of trying to build more powerful weapons and more powerful defenses. It is such a shame that huge amounts of money are wasted this way. As I have often said even if half of this money was used to help mankind it would make a tremendous difference.