An arms craze: drones to lasers
by Paul Rogers
The United States, Israel and other military powers continue to seek the perfect weapon, from drones to lasers. They forget how the story ends.
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The drone link
There is, though, a catch. What works for the military may also work for the paramilitary, especially as the widespread use of quite powerful lasers in industry means that civil laser technologies can readily be modified by sub-state actors.
There is an analogy here with the development of armed-drones. In this area the United States and Israel are in the lead, several years ahead of western European countries as well as Russia and China. But others, including Iran, are following suit (Israel said on 25 April 2013 that it had shot down yet another drone, launchedfrom southern Lebanon - presumably by Iran's ally Hezbollah). So too, with directed-energy weapons. For now, the United States and Israel are in the front rank; but within a few years there will be a proliferation, first to middle-ranking powers and then to non-state actors.
What links armed-drones and directed-energy weapons is that neither is subject to any kind of international arms-control process. Nor is one envisaged.
Once again, the armourers are way ahead of the arms controllers. That will almost certainly remain the case, which reinforces the significant of the USS Ponce'sdeployment. Almost without noticing it, the world is creeping into yet another era of warfare. The outcomes of this new era are unpredictable, though one thing is almost certain: it will involve proliferation to multiple actors - both states and paramilitaries alike.
Read more here: www.mercatornet.com
The drone link
There is, though, a catch. What works for the military may also work for the paramilitary, especially as the widespread use of quite powerful lasers in industry means that civil laser technologies can readily be modified by sub-state actors.
There is an analogy here with the development of armed-drones. In this area the United States and Israel are in the lead, several years ahead of western European countries as well as Russia and China. But others, including Iran, are following suit (Israel said on 25 April 2013 that it had shot down yet another drone, launchedfrom southern Lebanon - presumably by Iran's ally Hezbollah). So too, with directed-energy weapons. For now, the United States and Israel are in the front rank; but within a few years there will be a proliferation, first to middle-ranking powers and then to non-state actors.
What links armed-drones and directed-energy weapons is that neither is subject to any kind of international arms-control process. Nor is one envisaged.
Once again, the armourers are way ahead of the arms controllers. That will almost certainly remain the case, which reinforces the significant of the USS Ponce'sdeployment. Almost without noticing it, the world is creeping into yet another era of warfare. The outcomes of this new era are unpredictable, though one thing is almost certain: it will involve proliferation to multiple actors - both states and paramilitaries alike.
Read more here: www.mercatornet.com
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