A Visit to DARPA-land
We have a new President in office who is supposedly shifting us from military focus to a diplomacy focus. However, thus far there is little to indicate that President Obama is ready to step back from the expensive toys of war and the mindset they represent. Drone attacks in Pakistan have been the order of the day - despite the high civilian casualty rate. Meanwhile new weapons and plans roll out of the Pentagon. And despite the Pentagon's seeming inability to track their budget (over $2 trillion is missing somewhere), Gates is pushing for even less budget oversight.
A number of projects are in the works and all have a very high price tag.
Future Combat System (FCS)
The Future Combat System has a price tag of $159 billion, which the GAO says is unrealistically low. The FCS is a wireless network interconnection between soldiers, commanders, and eight weapons platforms which allows communications and guidance.
It is under development by Boeing and Science Applications International Corp (SAIC) - who of course have high confidence in the project.
The Future Combat System is the integrative component of Future Combat Systems. Don't be confused over the names. FCS is the communications piece for the "systems" which extend the remote attack capabilities and the integration (one assumes) of the tech-homo "future war fighter" (soldiers enhanced with optical, computer and other embedded technologies).
Of course, this system might be disabled by another new weapon that "frys electronics."
E-Bombs that Wreak Havoc
Several categories of weapons systems actually fall under this category. The military already has the capacity to fry electronic devices using either magnetic pulses or microwave. The new plan is to combine the magnetic version with an explosive component so that both electronic devices and physical objects can be destroyed at the same time.
This could either be really simple, or very complex. One would not want the explosive half to destroy the EMP (electromagnetic pulse) components. However, it would also not be a good idea for the EMP component to set off the explosive components. Further, since these are likely to be remotely controlled or perhaps delivered by drone, it would be counter-productive to shut down either the delivery vehicle or the wireless interfaces (as in the FCS). Oh the engineering challenges of efficient destruction.
However, in the world of micro-technology, a very small magnetic-based weapon has been mocked up. It is small enough to fit within a hand grenade and is technically named "Completely explosive ultracompact high-voltage nanosecond pulse-generating system."
Super Blimp
Surveillance is the perpetual need - particularly in a remote controlled world at war, and sometimes moving back means moving forward. Enter the super blimp.
Super blimp is "absolutely revolutionary" according the Werner Dahm - Airforce chief scientist. Yes, it is a blimp, but this baby is (of course) unmanned. It can cruise at 65,000 feet, and it can hang up there for 10 years. It would be filled with helium, and batteries are rechargeable by using solar power. The super high tech radar system will be built into the blimp itself.
One assumes that the information gathered from the semi-permanent blimp observation post could be used to direct Falcon.
Falcon
Falcon is a drone on steroids. It is (planned to be) a hypersonic, and near earth orbit drone capable of traversing 9000 nautical miles in under two hours with a 12,000 pound bomb payload. Despite being able to take off and land or be launched from space, reach Mach 6, travel in near earth orbit, be maneuverable, AND deliver bombs with pinpoint accuracy, DARPA says Falcon will:
... provide the nation a new, small payload access to space capability. Thus, the Falcon program addresses many high priority mission areas and applications such as global presence and space lift.
Which Way the Future?
At least at this point, it would appear that a change of president is not changing the direction of weapons development. In other words, more remote weapons, more control of space for military purposes, more super-response technologies with global reach. The (military) tools of empire.
The Pentagon has a $500 billion budget - yet to be released - for the coming year. People get upset about the piddling amounts spent on social welfare and education. Many get up in arms at the supposed costs of a single-payer universal health care system. Yet the Pentagon's budget runs around 25% of the federal discretionary budget - every year. That is not counting war costs, nor that leaky accounting system that "loses" billions - every year. If our budget reflects our priorities then we are assured war into the unforeseeable future.
Excellent well written round up. Great sources. I would add the recent dust up with the F-22 as well, but their are problably dozens more.
I am not sure how fair it is to lay all of these programs on Obama. Our constitution gives the power of the purse to congress and the Defense industry has invested very well. Obama has a lot on his plate and is picking his battles wisely. If he can get real Universal coverage, expanded education funding, significant alternative energy, then I personally am okay with eight years of gradually reduced military expenditures. Especially if we can manage to extradite ourselves from some foreign entanglements without additional humanitarian disasters unfolding.
However that very compromise that I am willing to accept seems a structural impediment. The long term term DOD growth trend is unmistakable , despite the occasional Carter, Clinton, or Obama funding drawdown. I am very glad you are raising the issue, now how do we get the people to?
March 15, 2009 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's remarkable that we even contemplate the expenditure of such vast sums of money in a world where no other nation can come close to our killing gadgetry for decades if we stopped developing such things right now. The more I contemplate this as well as our current financial debacle, health care debacle, etc., it seems apparent that we as a nation have lost sight of, well, just about everything. We're running on auto-pilot. No need to step back and examine what we're doing, and how we got to this place in history. Not until the sh#t hits the proverbial fan anyway. It's OK... Calm down... the corporations and political class will figure it out. Everybody put your heads down on your desks and take a little nap. Thanks for the update Rowan.
March 15, 2009 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
I try to keep an eye on the weapons systems and "vision" documents. It is remarkable where they crop up - (get tested). Then we get the reports that "such weapons" do not exist. I consider my periodic reports a public information effort.
I don't know if you are familiar with the comedian Lewis Black, but he had a piece he did once about what kids were told to do in the case of nuclear attack. Namely get under your desk and cover your head. His response was "they told us to get under kindling."
A lot of the information about weapons systems runs in the same vein.
March 15, 2009 4:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gotta love Lewis Black. I grew up in the same era, 'learning to live with the bomb'.
March 15, 2009 4:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hi Saladin.
I think where the actual pressure needs to be applied is in Congress. The ties to the defense "industry" are deep and hardened. Not to mention pressure from the Pentagon to move or close bases in the states that representatives are from.
The other approach is to encourage a dialog on just how much more militarily powerful than the rest of the world does the U.S. need to be - and the cost we all pay for that.
Then there is the issue of transfer of military technology to police forces and domestic agencies - the use of drones for example is becoming increasingly common. However, I am sure that "crowd control" devices like the microwave guns will hit the streets in the near future. Most people in the US have no idea that tear gas (for example) is considered an illegal chemical weapon under international law. We just think it's "OK."
The biggest issue I think are the general lack of information on this whole area of activity.
March 15, 2009 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank god for Wayne Morse.
I must say that your post did remind me that Boeing moved from the Northwest to Chicago a few years ago. Hmmm.
Is it lack of information, or the marginalization of the left in our political discourse?
March 15, 2009 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ah yes, the moves of Boeing. Sore topic in the Pacific NW.
Information, silencing, lack of media doing their job, lack of citizens doing our jobs. It is amazing to me how much information is available (though some of it is redacted or parts not released). I always encourage folks to go spend several hours digging around the DARPA site. While it has gotten less open than it used to be, I am always thinking "And this is the stuff that is public information. What are the projects that are "secret?")
I think that the country would change a lot if each citizen read one government report or study a month. Even the highly publicized ones (like the 9/11 report) get relatively little reading. Legislation gets hardly any more than that. One thing that the internet has done is to give folks generally easy access reports that you had to go to the government archives in college libraries to find before. I have no idea why more folks aren't accessing these information sources.
That lack is part of the problem that folks run into when they DO try to talk about the information available. Those reading/listening have never heard of it (the news or word of mouth) so it CAN'T be true, and you have a "bias." Drives me nuts. I have been called a "conspiracy theorist" while quoting government documents.
If we don't have an informed populace, then we can have only a docile public, or a propaganda driven public - IMHO.
March 15, 2009 8:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
The provocative blimp hovering over Hooverville is about to be REAL. This new global unmanned panopticon is astonishing. OMG… I’m writing Congress to specifically address the Gates appointment, but don’t know what else to do.The money should be denied to these projects. Granted, President Obama has a lot to accomplish, but he/we are now paying Gates to promote the morally void ideas behind these surveillance weapons. Whoze zooming who?
I would rather go to sleep but it is the Ides of March. Thanks Rowan - - our war god Mars AND a military parade.
From the LA Times article:
March 15, 2009 6:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ides of March ... had totally escaped me when I was working on this. Maybe there are influences of which we are unaware.
I don't buy the focus on surveillance and intelligence. The immediate next step is that it can be acted on. That requires other capabilities. Hence, hypersonic jets that can get half way around the planet in 2 hours, or permanent space-based weapons platforms that can strike anywhere on the planet. Of course, that quick response ability increases the likelihood of thinking things through or finding other solutions/responses.
March 15, 2009 8:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Oh CRUD!
This
"Of course, that quick response ability increases the likelihood of thinking things through or finding other solutions/responses."
Should read
Of course, that quick response ability decreases the likelihood of thinking things through or finding other solutions/responses.
March 15, 2009 9:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Since it is effectively impossible to not pursue work we assume others are doing, or thinking about, the emphasis should be on threat reduction, to reduce the budget pressure and keep programs longer-term.
The thing that scares me most is robotic armaments. One version, grasshopper-sized drones, share the usual mixed blessing of non-lethal tech making it less fraught to use. It could be a way to hunt guerilla fighters, for example by searching for metal and gun oil, but it could also be a mode of assassination, with a cloud looking for a DNA sniff. Simply tagging someone, like antibodies, could be sufficient to invite third parties to do our dirty work.
Force protection strikes me as paradoxical, since the more we use standoff or remote firepower, the less moral force our actions have. When we have our own soldiers placing their lives in jeopardy that says the question is life and death for us, too. But if it's a video game, we will earn contempt, if grudging respect for being dangerous.
The ultimate moral stance is to stand in front of the tanks. The nadir of morality is to destroy everything in the name of force protection.
March 15, 2009 9:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think that there is a way forward that does not involve the continuous need for an "arms" race. The world is facing several monumental challenges which are only going to be solved with cooperation not competition. Those challenges are declining supplies of petroleum and ocean fisheries, and global warming. These issues pose dire consequences for all inhabitants of the planet. They offer the opportunity for the nations of the world to work together to find a new path forward - if they are framed that way. Otherwise, we face a future of unending conflict with catastrophic fatalities.
March 15, 2009 10:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rowan, you are not cheering me up. This military industrial monolithic monster has eaten up our once vast storehouses. Two trillion is missing. And I was mad about Haliburton getting 100 billion. Peanuts.
Oh well, we rule the world.
March 15, 2009 9:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rowan,
I think the focus here is misplaced - the ONLY issue is the economy and the Obama administration's approach to fixing the economy is to expend government funds to "stimulate" demand. The fact they must deal with is simple: most defense dollars are spent entirely within the US and nearly every dime goes to American middle-class jobs. The focus of the ads advocating the F-22 is the JOBS such spending creates or preserves. This fact was learned by the defense industry in the Carter years, resulting in subcontracts being placed within key Congressional Districts for every major defense program. The defense industry, largely, rose out of the late 1930's "arsenal of democracy" with the US supplying weapons to our allies a full three years before entering the war ourselves. This dynamic continues to this day and largely defines the US technological leadership we had enjoyed for decades. JFK and the moon race was part of this same dynamic and both military spending and "civil" programs like NASA have spun off tremendous technological and economic successes. A very common example is GPS, keeping people from getting lost all over the world and still a program of the US Air Force.
March 15, 2009 10:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I recommend the post - but not the weapons!
I'm literally feeling sick and getting a back ache here. First Orlando's post on that horrible Japanese rape game. Now this! And I had to do that post on torture earlier today. I've hit a state of deviance overload here.
I do appreciate that you posted this. And I did a pretty good job of skimming. And I'm glad you're keeping your eye on this for us. But, dear Lord, how bad are things going to get? (I'd like to say I can't take much more... but after bushco?)
Ides of March, huh?
March 15, 2009 11:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, I think stratofrog is onto something with the Ides - and also with the suggestion of writing our vaunted representatives!
I'm not sure I would count it as "deviance" per se, but certainly a culture of dehumanization and brutality exists in our midst.
March 15, 2009 11:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
I accept your amended terms. :)
March 16, 2009 10:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
“Beware the Ides of March” jumped into my head yesterday I don’t know why. So I looked it up. Caesar was murdered by his friends. Several of the TPMC posts yesterday were so dark. And I say this as my old dear friend in Montgomery is lying in a hospice bed dying and I can’t physically go there. I’m feeling down.
And I got to thinking about why people in our country are so cruel to others and why they use their precious minds to create war machines to hurt others and why they torture people. Isn’t life as a human being hard enough? Where did we as a nation lose our compassion for others? Why don’t we stop this? I don’t know. Yes Rowan, I wonder how this war mindset is no longer deviant but mainstream.
March 16, 2009 2:37 PM | Reply | Permalink