Weapons

War is a very bloody business. Some of the most horrible killing in history took place during wars. When we look at wars, we have to conclude that it is bulk killing. In other words, it differs from murder in that it is designed to kill as many people at once as humanly possible. Murder is a terrible thing, but murder in civilian life is usually committed one person at a time. This is still the loss of a human life which is a terrible thing, but how much more horrible is the killing of up to hundreds of thousands at once. I use the example of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That was when the US dropped the atomic bomb on those cities in World War II. I am not passing judgment on what we did, I am just saying that the loss of life was terrible and immense.

We have developed some pretty horrible weapons over the years since World War II. They are not only nuclear, but conventional as well. We all know what nuclear weapons can do if detonated over a target, they are now capable of wiping out a very large city, if a big enough one is used. These weapons tend to get most of the spotlight because of their sheer devastating power and the fact that they represent an incredible scientific advancement. Some people think that we invented these weapons way too soon and were not ready for them. I tend to agree with this statement. It seems to me that the atomic bomb was something that should have never been invented, but if it was, it belonged several centuries in the future, when perhaps the human race could have controlled it much better.

US MOAB Bomb
Photo Source: DOD

When we look at these weapons we tend to forget that we have some pretty devastating conventional weapons that are almost as powerful as small nukes. When we stopped test blasting nukes, something very strange happened. The US and other countries decided that they should develop more powerful conventional weapons, because they wouldn't have the nuclear stigma. One of the weapons we tested was a 700 ton explosive. This was the biggest chemical blast ever, at the Nevada test site where we test these things. The code name for this test was Divine Strake. The idea for the test was to see how a massive conventional bomb would do against a fortified underground bunker. It seems that the world has decided to dig their way to safety by sinking bunkers deeper and deeper into the earth, almost forcing a military power during a war to use a nuke to destroy them, because it is felt that nothing else can damage them, because of their construction and depth. It is felt that these conventional weapons will really not solve the problem, because as they get bigger, the tunnels will only be dug deeper.

The Russians announced in September 2007, that they had created the world's most powerful air burst bomb. The bomb is a guided munitions that contains 7.8 tons of themobaric, which is slightly less than the American bomb. The Russians state that the design is far more efficient and their bomb yields the equivalent of 44 tons of TNT and has a blast radius of over 300 meters. It is said that bombs of this type actually suck the air out of a site causing some to die from lack of oxygen. These bombs are so powerful that they can be mistaken for a tactical nuke. The US bomb is also said to be the most powerful and is designated as a MOAB, which stands for Massive Ordnance Air Burst Bomb. It produces a mushroom cloud similar to that of a nuclear weapon and was designed to demoralize enemy forces. It is so large that it weighs 6,000 pounds more that the next biggest bomb in the American arsenal.

Something strange has happened while we were developing these weapons. We decided to try and develop non lethal weapons at the same time. Along with these weapons we continued development on ways to prevent injuries to our own forces. The newest invention is a jell. The jell is said to be able to stop bullets. It is an interesting concept. One use for it was said to be reinforcement for the helmets of soldiers. The jell is applied to the inside of the soldier's helmet and is then able to absorbs the shock of a round hitting it. This is the invention of a small British company. The way the jell works is that it doesn't take a hard shape until it is hit by an impact and then it hardens to protect the soldier. Similar to this is the nano coating that can now be applied to soldier's uniforms. The coating leaves the clothes looking quite normal until an impact and then the material hardens up so much that it can stop a bullet and spreads the kinetic energy over the entire area to protect the wearer. The jell has also found its way into many different civilian uses. One seemingly strange use is in the toes of ballet slippers.

Microwave Weapon
Photo Source: DOD

Some of the offensive non lethal weapons that are being developed are things like net guns. These guns shoot a net over an opposing soldier, entangling him and rendering him helpless. Along with this we have guns that shoot bean bags at high force, transmitters that put our a high ear piercing sound, microwave devices that emit microwaves that can be aimed at the attacking forces and scatter them, because they will feel like their skin is on fire. We have devices that are said to induce temporary blindness and other devices that make someone very sick, too sick to fight. One weapon throws out a glob of glue like material that covers the attacking soldier with a slime like material that binds so tight that he can not move.

There are all sorts of new weapons being developed and it looks like we are not that far away from having a working, practical laser gun that can be carried on one's person. So far the ones that I have seen talked about have one drawback, they have to recharge after firing and this takes about 30 seconds to one minute, enough time for someone to hoist you on your own petard. Are there secret weapons out there that we can not even imagine? I am sure that there are and they might even look like weapons developed by aliens to us, but are probably just advanced military weapons. As technology advances so does our ability to kill and to protect. Lets hope that non lethal weapons will get so good that they will become the weapons of choice. Maybe we won't be able to end war, but having a war where people don't get hurt might be the first step.