The New Battlefield Essays - Missile Defense,

The New Battlefield Problems have existed all throughout time on the battlefields of the past. There have been many problems including being easily seen, defending against airstrikes, and problems with infantry. But as the possibility of war increases, new steps must be taken to eliminate these problems so we will be able to defend ourselves. To neutralize many of these new threats, the problems of the past will be eliminated due to new technology. In the past, whenever their was a conflict, air and ground superiority was a must. This was because were heavily needed to bombard enemy strong holds to weaken them so ground forces could move in to finish the enemy off quickly. But one major consequence always came into effect, getting picked up on radar. This was a constant problem because jet fighters let off a lot of heat when weapons were fired; consequently, they were easily tracked and destroyed by heat-seeking missile. Another problem was that, when jet fighters were attacked by enemy fighters, the hard maneuvers the pilot would try to do to escape, would lead to blackouts. Fortunately, these problems have been eliminated do to the creation of stealth technology and innovations in flight suits. One of the new planes the United States in working on, the F-22 Lightning, will use radar absorbent materials to absorb radar waves instead of reflecting and revealing its location to the enemy. Because of this, The F-22 Lightning will be able to perform strike on enemy targets that are deep behind enemy lines.(Sweetman, 108), without the threat of possibly being seen. Also, to lower heat caused by the firing of weapons, the F-22 Lightning M61A2 Gatling Gun will have a hinged door, which coolant flows through, that will cover it. Because of this, the efficiency of Heat-Seeking Missiles, which are used in almost all close quarter combat, will be greatly reduced. Also, to help prevent blackouts, pilots will have a new flight suit which will help them. This new suit will hold blood in place so that it does not rush to the pilots head when he or she goes into avasive maneuvers to escape a enemy. Oxygen is ,also, constantly pumped into the lungs when fling at high pressure. This is so that blackouts do not occur due to lack of Oxygen to the brain and it also prevents the lungs from expanding to much. So, in these ways the problems of being picked up on radar, being tracked by heat-seeking missiles, and blackouts have been eliminated due to new technology. Their has also been a number of factors that have negatively affect the use of ground vehicles, when they are quickly needed. One of the major ones the was the fact that they made a lot of noise when running and they were also easily picked up on radar. Also, due to their enormous size, they were usually very heavy and cumbersome to transport. Because they were so heavy, it took more time to transport to where they were needed and when they arrived they could not travel as fast as smaller vehicles., which made them more susceptible to enemy fire by smaller more agile enemy fighter vehicles. But fortunately, just as with jet fighters, these problems have been eliminated due to new technology. The new ground vehicle, JTEV (Joint Tactical Electric Vehicle) which is being made by the United States army, will be completely covered in radar absorbent material so that it will not be picked by enemy radar. The Joint Tactical Electric Vehicle will also run off of energy stored in battery packs; because of this, it will be able to run completely silent for up to 10 miles at full speed, 115 miles per hour. It also Better than every ground vehicle that is in it class,(Stuart, 45). The Joint Tactical Electric Vehicles rival, the Humvee, weighs 7,700 pounds and is 86 inches is much heavier than the 5,000 pound Joint Tactical Electric Vehicle which is only 65 inches. Also, since the Joint Tactical Electric Vehicle is smaller and faster it can reach enemy targets faster and undetected. It is also easier to handle and is equipped with the same M-60B support gun. So because of this, the problems