How It Works - UK (2020-02)

036 HowIt Works http://www.howitworksdaily.com

TECHNOLOGY

W

eaponshavebeenaroundfor

thousandsofyears,andformostof

thattimetheirprimar ypurposehas

beentokillpeople,oratleasttoinflictserious

injur y.Butinrecentyearstheemphasishas

changed.A longsidetraditionalbombsandguns,

there’sa wholenewgenerationofweaponsthat

aren’tintendedtokill.Inmanycasestheyaren’t

evendesignedtobeusedonhumans,but

againsttechnolog y.Themilitar y’sincreasing

relianceoncomputersandothertechhasseen

theriseofelectronicwarfaregadgets,aswellas

drones– someverysophisticated,liketheX-47B

pilotlessstealthfighterpicturedtotheright–

andanti-droneweapons.

Intherealmof‘non-lethalweapons’,probably

thebest-knownisthetaser,whichincapacitates

itsvictimbyinflictinganelectricshock.Then

therearelaserdazzlers,whichinterferewithan

FROMMICROWAVE GUNS

TOCYBERWARFARE, A

GLIMPSE INTO THE

STRANGE NEW WORLD

OFTODAY’S BATTLEFIELD

WordsbyAndrewMay

© Lockheed Martin/Skunkworks

WEAPONS

21st

enemy’s v ision w ithout causing permanent

blindness. Other options available to today’s

modern military include powerful acoustic

waves and microwave beams, which produce

extremely unpleasant sy mptoms w ithout any

physical injur y.

Here we take a look at a selection of these new

weapon t y pes, alongside the more traditional

‘futuristic weapons’ – like space lasers and

hy personic jets – that science fiction has always

been promising us.

AR ZONE!

Northrop Grumman’s X-47B

pilotless combat vehicle

© US Navy