Page 430 - (DK) Smithsinian - Military History: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Objects of Warfare

428 KEY OPERATION KEY DEVELOPMENT

GE 1945–PRESENT NEPTUNE SPEAR THE HIGH-TECH
OPERATION

MAY 2, 2011
BATTLEFIELD
The killing of the al-Qaeda (see p.408)
leader Osama bin Laden by US SEAL
Special Forces, on May 2, 2011, was
achieved through a combination
The pursuit of technology to improve battlefield performance continues
of intelligence and technology.
observed by satellites, and then by
military nations are incorporating the latest scientific and technological
the covert Sentinel stealth UAV.
advances into their weapon systems.
The US SEALs were transported
A Bin Laden’s Pakistani hideout was at an ever-increasing pace. In a race currently led by the US, all the major
by stealth UH-60 Black Hawk
THE NUCLEAR carbines, night-vision goggles, (UAV) has brought about a profound change to the And, heading into the realms of science fiction,
helicopters and carried the latest
battle tank to be hidden from infra-red sensors.
The development of the unmanned aerial vehicle
equipment, including suppressed
and body armor.
way battles are fought. Toward the end of the 20th
research has also been conducted into a material
century, the UAV had already established itself as a called Metaflex, which may be able to hide soldiers
valuable reconnaissance tool; in particular, the RQ-4 behind a kind of “invisibility cloak.”
Global Hawk and the Predator and Reaper drones
have revolutionized the process of gathering strategic
and tactical intelligence. Post-2000, the UAV has
also assumed the role of hunter-killer. The MQ-9
Reaper, for example, can be armed with up to 14
Hellfire air-to-ground missiles or two Paveway II
laser-guided bombs. It has seen extensive use in
Afghanistan, where it is controlled via a real-time
satellite link from an air force base in Nevada, some
6,000 miles (9,600km) away. A further advantage of
the UAV is its airborne endurance: the Israeli Eitan,
for example, can stay airborne for up to 70 hours.

UNMANNED VEHICLES ON LAND
▲ Osama bin Laden was the founder of
al-Qaeda, the jihadist group responsible As part as the American-led move toward the
for the terrorist attacks on the US, on “automated battlefield,” unmanned vehicles
September 11, 2001 (see p.408).
are also used on land. This began with remote-
controlled bomb-disposal machines, but in recent
years, larger, more complex vehicles have been
produced, including the remote-controlled Black
▼ XM25 GRENADE LAUNCHER Knight tank, which is based on the M2 Bradley
A US Army soldier tests an XM25 infantry combat vehicle. An intriguing development
grenade launcher in Afghanistan. The has been the Israeli remote-controlled robotic
XM25 uses computerized optical
sights, and fires 25mm snake. Used for surveillance in confined,
grenades set to explode hostile environments, it is equipped
in mid-air at or near with a camera and microphone.
the target, and also Progress made in applying stealth
pre- or post-impact.
technology to standard front-line
aircraft (such as the US F-35)
has now been extended to
warships and armored vehicles.
Developments in Adaptive
Camouflage allow such
high-profile ground
objects as a main