Category Archives: Nanoweapons Cold War

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Are Nanoweapons Secret?

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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.

 

 

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The Nanoweapons Cold War

Categories, nanotechnology, Nanoweapons, Nanoweapons Cold War, Technology, War, , , ,

Many believe the collapse of the Soviet Union marked the end of the Cold War. If we confine ourselves to only consider military might based on conventional and nuclear weapons, they are correct. The United States is widely considered the only superpower.

Before you take a long sigh of relief, understand a new type of Cold War emerged from the rubble. Knowing well they they cannot match the United States’ military across the board, the Russian Federation and now China are spending their military budgets to gain asymmetrical military advantages over the United States. One key area of focus is nanoweapons. Nanowek.com, the leading nanotechnology portal, reports, “All major powers are making efforts to research and develop nanotechnology-based materials and systems for military use.”

The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), launched by President Bill Clinton in 2000,  coordinates, collaborates, and funds the nanotechnology research and development activities of 25 Federal agencies . To date, the United States government has channeled over $20,000,000,000 through NNI. In addition, each branch of the United States military performs its own nanotechnology research and development. As a result, a new class of weapons, nanoweapons, are already being deployed, from advanced laser weapons to insect size drones.

The actual amount that is spent on nanoweapons remains Top Secret, but based on publicly published budget allocations, it is reasonable to estimate its in the many $Bs annually. For example, about 15% of the NNI budget alone is  focused on DOD projects. This excludes federal agencies like DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Project Agency), which focuses on advanced military weapons. In addition, about 10% of the total defense budget of the United States (estimated at $534.3 billion in 2016) is classified, typically termed the “black budget.” Given the secrecy that surrounds nanoweapons funding, it is next to impossible to discern the exact nanoweapons budget of the United States. But, it’s relatively easy to estimate that many $Bs are being spent annually on nanoweapons development and deployment.

What fuels this new Nanoweapons Cold War? One simple paradigm, the superpowers of the future will be those nations with the most capable nanoweapons. If you have not read my earlier posts, let me digress and define nanoweapons. 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 understand this in simple terms, the diameter of a typical human hair equals 80,000- 100,000 nanometers. Ironically, the next big thing in military weapons technology will be small, essentially invisible to the naked eye.

The power of nanoweapons has not escaped the attention of the Russian Federation or China, as well as other countries like Germany and France. China in particular is doing everything it can to “hack” United States nanoweapons technology, as well as develop their own. Russia has even set up a “public” company, Rusnano, to pursue nanotechnology and nanoweapons. I put the word “public” in quotes because the Russian Federation currently owns all the stock of Rusnano.

The main take away from this post is that we are in a new cold war, a Nanoweapons Cold War. China and Russia are squaring off with the United States to gain an asymmetrical nanoweapons advantage. To date, the United States has the clear lead. However, recall that during the first Cold War, Russia was able to maintain near military parity with the United States via espionage and asymmetrical funding. I expect similar behavior from China and the Russian Federation during the Nanoweapons Cold War.

Image courtesy of Jonas Staub and Dreamstime Stock Photos