Book Review


The Technological Arsenal:
Emerging Defense Capabilities

William C. Martel, ed.
Smithsonian Institution, 2001, 284 pages

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This is a collection of military policy articles discussing new and experimental defense technologies, including directed-energy weapons, high-power microwaves, cruise missiles, nonlethal technologies (such as adhesive spray foam), and information warfare. The articles discuss their policy and treaty implications and possible uses of these new technologies from a strategic standpoint. There is little or no technical information on the systems themselves.

With the exception of cruise missiles and satellites, most of these technologies are still at a primitive stage of development. It is clearly important for America to investigate these technologies, if for no other reason than to devise countermeasures should they be deployed by an adversary. The articles vary widely in the amount of insight brought to bear on the problem.

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July 6, 2002 Back