War – ‘No Hiding Place’ Technology the Tipping Point



Posted: Wednesday, July 04, 2007

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A new technology in the form of a device which would fit on the roof of an SUV might, in all probability, have been the tipping point in the Vietnam War and given the US victory. The device is 21 feet long and a couple of feet wide and deep. In quantities of 50 it costs just a million dollars and it’s a fair bet that 100 of these devices could have changed the course of the Vietnam War.

The device which was recently announced by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a Foliage Penetration Reconnaissance Tracking and Engagement Radar (FORESTER). The system is designed to detect and track people and vehicles concealed by foliage and uses UHF radar which penetrates tree cover very well. This foliage penetration technology could have been the tipping point in that Asian war preventing the flow of soldiers and weapons along the Ho Chi Minh trail.

The US military plans to suspend the foliage penetration radar underneath another amazing piece of 21st century American technology called the A160 Hummingbird aircraft a 35 foot long unmanned helicopter which would fit in the garage of many a suburban home.

If this combination of UAV and radar had been available 40 years ago the political picture in South East Asia might look very different today. It remains to be seen though what impact this amazing technological duo will have in the modern theater of war where terrorists appear and disappear at a moment’s notice.

The DARPA A160 can be fitted with Hellfiire missiles and can fly for 20 hours up to 30,000 feet. Its range of 2,200 nautical miles would enable it to be flown and controlled from the roof of a building or a parking lot anywhere in the world to track down and eliminate terrorist in even the most inaccessible parts of this planet.

In the war against terror this technological duo could be a tipping point. The Hummingbird is made of fiber carbon and its light weight and design means it is four times quieter than the average helicopter. It's not hard to imagine how this small unmanned helicopter, with its amazing radar and lethal armament, could stealthily track terrorists through terrain impassible to foot soldiers and then close for the kill. Imagine this miniature and versatile weapon of war hovering outside the entrance to perhaps a cave on a hillside in some desolate mountainous area home to a terrorist leader. Then at the press of a button, a flight controller located safely hundreds of miles away, could instruct this tiny unmanned aircraft to launch its missiles right into the heart of the enemy’s hiding place.

The A160 rotary wing unmanned aerial vehicle is not particularly suited to urban warfare which is where much of today's terrorist action takes place. So why might this technology be a tipping point in the battle against terrorism? The ultimate leaders controlling the ideology of the terrorist foot soldiers are far away from danger and the day to day risks associated with being close to the battle zone where a stray bullet or a loose tongue could seal their fate. No, like any senior army commander, terrorist supremos will be found far from the front line and the A160 with it surveillance radar, cameras and lethal weapons could well prove there really is no hiding place on earth where terrorists cannot be tracked and eliminated.

Vince Waterson is VP of business development at Hawaii Pacific Teleport: Email: vwaterson@hawaiiteleport.com

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