Abstract
In this chapter, we consider the specific aspects of military technologies, as well as those used by the intelligence services. After a brief history of military technology, we focus on the improvement of canons as evidence of progress in military technologies and artillery systems. While military technology often has to satisfy some of the most extreme requirements in terms of robustness, weight, performance, and other figures of merit (FOM), we also observe the possibility of some of these technologies to be spun-off into civilian life. While R&D for military technology is most often done in secrecy, there have been efforts to either repurpose commercial technologies or to experiment with open innovation mechanisms to retain an edge over adversaries that may have less capable innovation systems. Finally, we conclude by observing that warfare has recently expanded into new domains such as outer space and cyberspace. This domain is a special case of the application of technology roadmapping to a domain that is constrained by national security and secrecy constraints that are different from those in the commercial sector as discussed in the prior chapters.
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Notes
- 1.
Penicillin was a somewhat “accidental” discovery by Alexander Fleming in 1928 and its antibacterial properties were kept secret after its initial discovery as the survival rate of wounded soldiers with access to penicillin was significantly higher than without it.
- 2.
The following section is adapted from https://www.arc.id.au/CannonBallistics.html
- 3.
Note that in this simplified model, the friction in the barrel and the effect of air drag in the barrel (internal ballistics) is not explicitly included. Furthermore, the pressure is also not constant and will decrease over time as a typical cannon shot takes anywhere between 2 and 5 [msec] until the projectile leaves the barrel. As the length of the barrel is increased, there would come a point where the combined action of friction and drag on the ball in the barrel would overcome the thrust force F(x) and thus no net increase in velocity would be achieved. (diminishing returns of increasing barrel length).
- 4.
Robertson P., “China’s military might is much closer to the US than you probably think,” URL https://theconversation.com/chinas-military-might-is-much-closer-to-the-us-than-you-probably-think-124487
- 5.
One of the examples of such requirements is that each firm must acquire a so-called “CAGE” code. The Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code is a five-character ID number used extensively within the federal government, assigned by the Department of Defense’s Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). The CAGE code supports a variety of administrative systems throughout the government and provides a standardized method of identifying a given legal entity at a specific location. Agencies may also use the code for facility clearance or a preaward survey.
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de Weck, O.L. (2022). Military and Intelligence Technologies. In: Technology Roadmapping and Development . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88346-1_20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-88346-1_20
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