Space, Near-Space and Airborne Sensors and Structures
New technology has been put into the works that will let US military personnel (war fighters) "to locate, track, and target adversary movements on the ground and in the air". This is to obtained by using C-Band SATCOM which is a form of electromagnetic communication between satellites. This will give the military a huge hand in combat because it will allow for them to see when missiles are being launched, land troops and vehicles, and air transports. This new technology will be used with space based radar that will enable "war fighters" a.k.a. soldiers to find and track enemies anywhere in the world hostile or not in the ground and in the air. The underlining technology in this project made up of C-Band SATCOM which is a commercial communications network, extremely large space apertures and structures, and this will allow for the development of "high performance space control sensors and systems". This kind of technology can and will allow for a person or government to be able to locate and target potentially dangerous missiles and vehicles allowing for a wide range of security that would not be available before this radar is released.
- S.E.I.s
- Integrity- The new sensors might lack integrity or will have some issues because if the signal between where the sensors are sending and where they are receiving is interrupted or sent to a different server the information a and technology could prove very dangerous to the army and American safety. If this information were to be leaked or hacked it could allow for the hackie to know secret army missions, who the U.S. is tracking and will allow the person to tamper with the information which could also lead to war trouble, and will also give them access to who and what the sensors will track next.
- Security- The security that this will bring the U.S. can be enormous because it will allow us to be able to find and track any known terrorists and also help with any homeland security issues like illegal immigration. This technology will revolutionize the way that people will be located,tracked, and targeted. Here is an example: If a drug cartel was shipping a huge shipment of drugs into the U.S. and we were able to recognize one of the members it would allow us to find, track, and engage the target without them knowing. This also leaves the technology to be able to be used on civilians and "suspected" people.
- Control- This new technology could be used to monitor the whole world if it were to be massively produced and the satellites were scattered. This gives a whole new meaning to "Big Brother". This sensor could be used to enforce the will of the government if it were used so, because it could be enhanced with a weapon that would allow the government to eliminate any person that was a "suspected" terrorist and no one would have any control over it. This could also be used to enforce people to act a certain way by making sure that anyone that stands out or acts up is punished.
Multipath Exploitation Radar Program
This program when it has successfully been completed will allow Airborne sensors to detect more information by allowing the sensor to see beyond the Line-of-Sight(LOS). This new technology will allow the US National Guard to be more precise with their examinations of battlefields and territories. This technology will open many doors that will allow for the military and other personnel to advance the technology of both radar and optic streaming. This technology is allowed to see past the LOS by allowing a lower aspect angle that will "greatly extend the persistent area of coverage". This new radar will also allow for the airborne sensor to detect and extract certain signatures on "targets". This radar uses Multipath which is when a radio signal is received and transmitted from multiple antennas. An example of this is if there is a search for a known criminal a police officer can release airborne sensors into the air and they are able to look into alleys and walk ways that would not be able to be seen from the sky by using a lower aspect angle and will be able to more effectively catch criminals.
- S.E.I.s
- Integrity- This radar lacks integrity because if the radio signal were to be intercepted the live optical stream could be watched from a place by a person that can enhance and even disrupt the optical feed by tampering with the visuals. This could also be an issue because all of the streams could be saved and if that was to be hacked the hackie would have information about all the places that the airborne sensor has been sent and all of the visuals it had collected.
- Security- This radar could prove as a very useful and advanced security camera. The radar could be used to detect and alert authorities if a criminal were to be walking in the streets and it got a picture of his/her face it would be able to send the picture to the authorities and would be able to track him/her while the police got ready. This could also be an issue for security as well because if the technology were to put into the wrong hands then it would pose a threat to any enemy of the person with the control because it would allow them to be tracked.
- Control- If the control of this radar was put into the wrong hands it could prove a massive threat t both national and personal security because anyone even the president could be tracked. This can also be an issue if the person in control abused their power and used the technology to track and search for anyone. A corrupt government could also use this technology to control the population and completely maintain control over behavior and actions of the people because they would be constantly monitored.
-Joey S.
Durek, Joseph. "Multipath Exploitation Radar Program." Darpa. Web. 17 Feb. 2010. .
"Space, Near-Space and Airborne Sensors and Structures." Darpa. Web. 17 Feb. 2010. .
URL:
http://www.darpa.mil/sto/space/index.html
I like it! The fact of this being able to give a larger sitrep means that it can save more lives! War is a terrible thing and with the creation of this, I'm hoping it will be safer for our troops. I would like to know what exactly the price cap is on this prototype? Since from my knowledge, like the Predator Drone (shown above) it is going to be very expensive tax and government money that should be going torwards other things. I know for a fact that a single Predator Drone is approximantly 4.5 million dollars to make a single one. For the military that does not seem like that much, but try multiplying that by two hundred! I'm sure it also cost well over that to research and develop the thing! But I guess since it is trying to make our world a safer place it is a good thing. Go Captain Plannet!
ReplyDeleteSorry the comment above was posted by DJ S.
ReplyDeleteI remember when we were talking about this in the library! It's definitely frightening to think that those 'war fighters' can pretty much see through mountains, walls, or anything else, and are able to track someone without their knowledge. Sooner or later they are probably going to come up with the same kind of thing for public use to see through walls and other things, which is of course a total invasion of privacy! I know I wouldn't want someone to be staring at me through a wall without knowing they were even there. The positives, in my opinion, definitely do out way the negatives though, and I think this technology would give our troops, and the general American public, a greater sense of safety knowing that we have ways to track and detect those who are attempting to harm us or our country. The fact that it could possibly track the many terrorists yet to be found just brings a lot of hope to people, and the people from other countries who are trafficking illegal objects into the United States, makes a lot of people feel more comfortable walking down the street or just the world in general. I like the way you explored the details of both the pros and cons of this new tracking sensor. I think that the way it is intended to be currently used would be extremely helpful to our security, but it would definitely be a huge concern if it was in the wrong hands.
ReplyDelete-- Korinne Frier
I think this device could be very valuable for warfare but I was also a little scary. I like the idea of being able to track and monitor adversaries, but I don't like the feeling of being reliant on technology for combat. Which lead me to wonder why reliability was not one of the prominent SEI's. What if something went wrong with the signals and the device began to track, or locked on to something other than an opponent? And what if we became so reliant on the technology that could seek out and track, pretty much doing all of the work for us, that we could not win a war without it? There is ALWAYS the possibility of malfunctioning technology and a reliance, especially one regarding the safety of our nation has me concerned.
ReplyDeleteWOW POSTING THIS IS REALLY COMPLICATED
----Tessa