First, let us address, What are nanoweapons? Here is a simple definition: Nanoweapons are any military technology that exploits the power of nanotechnology. This begs another question, What is nanotechnology? According to the United States National Nanotechnology Initiative’s website, nano.gov, “Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers.” To visualize a nanometer, it is approximately 1/100,000 the diameter of a typical human hair. Therefore, we are discussing weapons that have one or more features that are invisible to the naked eye.

The existence of nanoweapons is not a secret, but the United States and other governments are extremely tight lipped about their existence. Even though the United States and other countries are deploying nanoweapons, they garner little to no media coverage. Why is this?

The mission and goals of the United States National Nanotechnology Initiative intentionally omits any mention of nanoweapons, but allocates a significant portion of its budget to their development. In addition, work on nanoweapons is likely classified “Secret” or “Top Secret.” Let us understand these classifications. Top Secret applies to information that, in the wrong hand, could cause exceptionally grave damage to the national security. Secret applies to information that could cause serious damage to the national security. This means the scientists working on nanoweapons cannot publish their work in a scientific journal or present their work at a public conference. As a result, a Google search for “nanoweapons” yields .07% (search returns) relative to a similar Google search for “nuclear weapons.” Although there is a mountain of information on nanotechnology, only about one page in every 2,500 pages describes the use of nanotechnology for military applications.

What does all this mean? The existence of nanoweapons is not secret. You can actually do a Google search and find references to them. But, the specific nanoweapons are secret. Given this fact, you may ask, How did I write a book on nanoweapons (Nanoweapons: A Growing Threat to Humanity)?

Although, the development of nanoweapons continues under a cloak of secrecy by every nation involved in their development, by researching the publicly available information, it is possible to make educated judgments regarding the specific types of nanoweapons in development, as well as when they will be deployed. That is exactly what I did to write my latest book, Nanoweapons: A Growing Threat to Humanity. However, a word of caution is in order. Any information about nanoweapons currently found in the public domain is likely one or two generations behind current developments and deployments. This makes nanoweapons currently under development or being deployed difficult to predict, but as my book demonstrates not impossible.

One critical finding from my research is that China, Russia and the United States are competing in a multi-billion-dollar nanoweapons arms race. Why? Nanoweapons promise to become more devastating than nuclear weapons. This means the superpowers of the future will be those nations with the most capable nanoweapons.