Advanced Weapons I guess by now we have all heard about the Chinese Hypersonic missile that orbited the earth. Why are so many countries rushing to build these missiles? The reason is countries like Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran would love to have a missile they believe could get through the defenses of the United States and in the case of Iran also through the defenses of Israel. Why are they so sure of this? The reason is they are the fastest missiles but also because they can be maneuvered in flight. So far Russia and China have demonstrated they have these missiles and the U.S. has had a test with a somewhat slower one. Much of what we have is secret, so hopefully a system is being worked on to defeat these missiles and create faster ones ourselves. The U.S. missile is the Wave Rider and hopefully it will eventually be able to reach Mach 6, which is six times the speed of sound or about 4,000 miles per hour. The United States Air Force has given a contract to a company for a new advanced drone. The goal is not only advancements in technology but also a decrease in price. The company is Kratos and the Air Force believes this company will be able to supply drones with more advancements than other companies. I think one of the most important things we can do is make sure the security is such that China and Russia can not steal our advancements as they usually do. There are a lot of advanced weapon’s systems coming out. One of them is a weapon named MAHEM. MAHEM stands for Magneto Hydrodynamic Explosive Munition. It refers to an explosive which uses fragments and self-forging penetrators known as SFP to enable precision strikes against targets. This allows for a greater ability to take out vehicles and other hard to kill targets. It can also have multiple targeted warheads which explode with a much higher velocity than other explosives. The explosive can be put into missiles or many other projectiles. Another advanced weapon’s system is Corner Shot. Corner Shot was developed by a Colonel of the Israeli Defense Forces and funded by American investors. It eliminates the need for someone shooting to have to lift his head and become a target. The range is dependent upon the gun being used. Corner Shot attaches to the gun. It can also be used to mount such devices as cameras, lasers and other devices. There is a weapon in the American arsenal which is named the XM25. It is an airburst weapon launched as a grenade. While grenades of this type have been used for years, this one has the ability to be programmed. It has a range of 500 meters and can be used to take out a target such as a sniper or other target while in hiding. When we were in Afghanistan, we were having a lot of trouble with IADs which are Improvised Explosive Devices. We needed some way of taking them out without trying to take them apart. We came up with the Laser Avenger. The laser is mounted on a vehicle and sends a hot laser beam at the IAD and explodes it. We have a weapon which is used to electrocute many people at once. It sounds cruel but in war it can be very efficient. The weapon is named the Taser Shockwave. It looks like a smaller tank. It can be used as a single weapon or in conjunction with other weapons. It has a rather short effectiveness of 7.5 meters but will kill everyone within that range. Sweden has invented a tank named the T Ghost. It uses something called ADAPTIV camouflage by the company BAE. It has a 120mm main cannon which was designed to lower the height of the tank. ADAPTIV camouflage hides a vehicle’s infrared signature. The idea is to make the outside of the vehicle you are hiding the same temperature as the surrounding area. A honeycomb type material is used to surround what ever you need to hide. We have a rifle named the Mile Marker which uses precision guided ammunition. When the gun is discharged it takes over the trajectory of the bullet to eliminate human error and creates a higher chance of hitting the target no matter the distance. There is also Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance which is a self-steering bullet. It can make adjustments even in high winds and unfavorable conditions. A new helicopter has been developed which provides reconnaissance and fire support for the troops. It is unmanned eliminating the danger to a pilot for this type of mission. The designation is the MQ-8C Fire Scout. A new system named Hololens has been developed by Microsoft for soldiers in the field. When they put on their Hololens they can see through smoke and even around corners. They can also assess the dangers around them without exposing themselves. Boston Dynamics the maker of robots is famous for its robot dog. A new weapon has been designed named SPUR. The dog looks suspiciously like the dog from Boston Dynamics but was built by Ghost Robotics and has a sniper rifle attached to its back which can be fired remotely by an operator. Robot dogs are being used to keep back crowds. The U.S. Navy signed a contract with a company for a portable laser weapon. This would be a ray gun, the dream of the military for many years. Previously the problem was the power supply and the size of the components. The weapon is known as C-UAS HELWS. It initial use will be to target drones. Unfortunately, it will not be a pistol but more like a rifle. Don’t fret, as electronics shrink the ray gun is getting closer to reality. One of the problems we have along with the rest of the world’s militaries is the fact advances are coming along so quickly. What was an advanced weapon ten years ago is yesterday’s news. The shrinking electronics components keep getting smaller and more powerful which in turn give new abilities to weapons makers. New super computers are coming up with new advancements and quantum computers are beginning to become useful which will just increase our ability to create new weapons. It is sad the world is so weapons oriented, but unfortunately that is life and we just have to keep up. Sometimes we make mistakes and build something which turns out to be no better than the previous object, and we have to tighten up on our procedures and other times we spend far too much money and have to be stricter with our contracts, but proceed we must.
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