Kathianne
09-21-2008, 04:36 AM
Stuff developed for war, great in some ways, not so good in others:
http://www.slate.com/id/2200292
Nowhere To HideKiller drones that can see through walls.
By William Saletan
Posted Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008, at 11:49 AM ET
For the last couple of days, in the Human Nature blog, I've been looking into a breakthrough cryptically reported in Iraq and Afghanistan: the ability of U.S. unmanned aerial vehicles to identify and track human targets "even when they are inside buildings." Several recently reported technologies might account for it, but Slate reader fozzy suggests looking for the answer in a military research field called STTW, usually translated as "sense-through-the-wall." Has this ability been extended to a distance that allows it to be used by aerial drones?
...Cool, huh? Except that if their walls are now transparent, so are yours. As fozzy astutely asks: "What happens when the government 'brings this technology home'?" And do you think our government is the only one merging STTW with UAVs? Heck, even the Canadians are well into it. "We will put the UWB radar on mobile platforms such as robots or unmanned airborne vehicle," says a 2002 report from Defence R&D Canada. "We are confident that a through-the-roof surveillance capability could be implemented using UWB radars installed on helicopters or small UAV."...
Congratulations. The good news is, we might win in Iraq and Afghanistan after all. The bad news is, now we all have red dots on our heads.
http://www.slate.com/id/2200292
Nowhere To HideKiller drones that can see through walls.
By William Saletan
Posted Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008, at 11:49 AM ET
For the last couple of days, in the Human Nature blog, I've been looking into a breakthrough cryptically reported in Iraq and Afghanistan: the ability of U.S. unmanned aerial vehicles to identify and track human targets "even when they are inside buildings." Several recently reported technologies might account for it, but Slate reader fozzy suggests looking for the answer in a military research field called STTW, usually translated as "sense-through-the-wall." Has this ability been extended to a distance that allows it to be used by aerial drones?
...Cool, huh? Except that if their walls are now transparent, so are yours. As fozzy astutely asks: "What happens when the government 'brings this technology home'?" And do you think our government is the only one merging STTW with UAVs? Heck, even the Canadians are well into it. "We will put the UWB radar on mobile platforms such as robots or unmanned airborne vehicle," says a 2002 report from Defence R&D Canada. "We are confident that a through-the-roof surveillance capability could be implemented using UWB radars installed on helicopters or small UAV."...
Congratulations. The good news is, we might win in Iraq and Afghanistan after all. The bad news is, now we all have red dots on our heads.