MOD group predicts deterioration

[clarky003]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,2053020,00.html

Information chips implanted in the brain. Electromagnetic pulse weapons. The middle classes becoming revolutionary, taking on the role of Marx's proletariat. The population of countries in the Middle East increasing by 132%, while Europe's drops as fertility falls. "Flashmobs" - groups rapidly mobilised by criminal gangs or terrorists groups.

This is the world in 30 years' time envisaged by a Ministry of Defence team responsible for painting a picture of the "future strategic context" likely to face Britain's armed forces. It includes an "analysis of the key risks and shocks". Rear Admiral Chris Parry, head of the MoD's Development, Concepts & Doctrine Centre which drew up the report, describes the assessments as "probability-based, rather than predictive".

The 90-page report comments on widely discussed issues such as the growing economic importance of India and China, the militarisation of space, and even what it calls "declining news quality" with the rise of "internet-enabled, citizen-journalists" and pressure to release stories "at the expense of facts". It includes other, some frightening, some reassuring, potential developments that are not so often discussed.

 

[Gunner]

Electromagnetic pulse weapons in 30 years? unlikely, I doubt we'll have anything to replace kinetic weapons in less than a 100 years.

 

[clarky003]

What do you think a nuke is?. It's not just a kinetic weapon it sends out an EMP in the blast aswell. We have had weapons with EMP effects for ages, just nothing pure that can take out a whole city without physically leveling it at the same time. I would not be suprised if the US military in conjuction with Lockeheed Martin arn't already sitting on a proper prototype.

 

[Gunner]

The EMP blast in a nuke is irrelevant since any electronics in the blast radius is destroyed by the explosion anyway. And I was thinking of hand held weapons, ones you could use to target vehicles or aircrafts. Not bombs

 

[Krynn72]

Thats what he said. I dont find it unlikely that these weapons will be available in under 50 years.

 

[gick]

The EMP blast in a nuke is irrelevant since any electronics in the blast radius is destroyed by the explosion anyway. And I was thinking of hand held weapons, ones you could use to target vehicles or aircrafts. Not bombs

Actually, the EMP blast radius from a nuclear weapon is a lot greater than that of the thermal and pressure blasts. If they ever decided to do a full scale nuclear attack on Britain, the Soviet Union had plans to detonate a warhead over the north sea in order to short out all the electronics, and delay a response.

Tension between the Islamic world and the west will remain, and may increasingly be targeted at China "whose new-found materialism, economic vibrancy, and institutionalised atheism, will be an anathema to orthodox Islam".

C+C Generals! :O

Great article though, thanks for posting. I'll be doing this sort of thing next year at uni, so I think its especially fascinating.

 

[Raxxman]

The EMP blast in a nuke is irrelevant since any electronics in the blast radius is destroyed by the explosion anyway.

So not true.

 

[Sulkdodds]

This shares a couple of quite startling similarities with something I'm writing.

I guess great minds think alike!

EDIT: Skeptical about parts of it, though. Prediction's a risky business, innit?

 

[clarky003]

It is quite crazy, they want to equip soldiers with robocop kindof suits before 2020.

As much of an ideologist I like to be, the expansion and escalation of military force which I think now days is mostley being driven by the business itself and shareholders, because of the cartel status it is a prime factor in what is perpetuating this kindof idea. The idea that no one has the comprehensive answer to solve the problems peacefully so instead of militarisation being more like a plan B it's being treated more and more like a plan A.

If the people don't intervene, I truely believe the military industrial complex and the like around the world will totally get out of hand and walk the planet into an Orwellian nightmare. If you look at the root of the problem it's more about the same groups of people perpetuating this kindof ideology in order to retain and expand their business and power, rather than religious extremists trying to kill people.

It's more complex than black and white good and evil.