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Technology Leveling The Playing Field In Modern War

Posted by Zonk on from the to-the-detriment-of-the-armed-forces dept.

The IEEE spectrum site has up an article written by the author Robert N. Charette describing the 'empowerment of the individual to conduct war' through technology. In the piece, entitled Open-Source Warfare, Charette describes the cheap, inexpensive, but clever ways that militants are adapting to modern warfare. "As events are making painfully clear, [counterterrorism expert John Robb] says, warfare is being transformed from a closed, state-sponsored affair to one where the means and the know-how to do battle are readily found on the Internet and at your local RadioShack. This open global access to increasingly powerful technological tools, he says, is in effect allowing 'small groups to...declare war on nations.' Need a missile-guidance system? Buy yourself a Sony PlayStation 2. Need more capability? Just upgrade to a PS3."

4 of 304 comments (clear)

  1. PS3 is too much work for a guidance system by t0qer · · Score: 2, Informative

    I dunno, maybe you could make it run on DC...Prolly could get away with a power inverter. Still though, would you don't really want moving parts and it's a lame way to do it.

    http://www.u-nav.com/picopilot/picopilotn.html

    $500 gets you a solid state autopilot programmable with GPS waypoints. It also already has a interface to servo's.

    Just because you could build a guidance system from a game system, doesn't mean it's really going to have any advantage in the real world.

  2. Re:what a nonsense by dajak · · Score: 2, Informative

    That's just selective attention. The Nazis also taught us a lot about counter insurgency warfare. I know that in the Netherlands Dutch former Germanic SS soldiers were appointed as officers of counter insurgency units in the Netherlands Indies in the late 40s, because of their valuable counter insurgency experience in Russia.

  3. Nah by Moraelin · · Score: 4, Informative

    Nah, most of their tanks came from Tankograd, a city they built pretty much from scratch around some enormous tank factories.

    --
    A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
  4. Re:We are in effect training them how to fight us. by mmacedon · · Score: 2, Informative

    The cost of the war is about $120 Billion a year. Given that the US economy is roughly $13 Trillion a year, that represents less than a %1 percent marginal cost. During the Cold War, total defense spending ranged from 5% (the 1980's) to 14% (the 1950's) of GDP. "At 4 percent of GDP, defense spending is one and a half percentage points of GDP below the 45-year historical average and well below Cold War and Vietnam War levels." http://www.heritage.org/research/features/BudgetChartBook/charts_s/s7.cfm Given that the Surge is working (according to the NYT) and the US is crushing Al Queda in Iraq, its money well worth spent. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/opinion/21friedman.html?bl&ex=1195966800&en=39c89c8e523b54d9&ei=5087%0A