Indiscriminate Weapons Enter the 21st Century
Posted in modern warfare, UK government on February 8th, 2010
From a tactical military standpoint, land mines have a certain set-it-and-forget-it appeal; you blanket an area in munitions and move on, secure in the fact that if the enemy tries to cross that terrain they’ll find an automated resistance waiting for them. But we all know that land mines are also one of modern warfare’s most indiscriminate and devastating developments, with the capacity to kill and maim innocent people even decades after hostilities have ceased. To remedy this problem, arms maker Metal Storm has developed a virtual minefield that delivers the tactical advantage of land mines without blanketing areas with dangerous ordnance that could be left behind.
From a tactical perspective, the virtual minefield is even better than the real deal because it can be turned on and off to allow friendly troop movement across a “minefield.” The computer can even deactivate a specific path through an area to allow troops to move through, reactivating it when friendlies are clear.
Smart Virtual Minefield Offers Tactical Coverage Without the Ugly Unexploded Ordnance (Popular Science)
