Be All You Can Be

Be All You Can Be: The Meaning of the Nanoenhanced Army DANIEL F. MOORE, PH.D.

Introduction GOAL OF THIS TALK FRAMEWORK FOR DISCUSSING NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN MILITARY APPLICATIONS HOW DIFFERENT HUMAN ENHANCEMENT APPLICATIONS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY FIT INTO THIS FRAMEWORK

Melee Weapon In a sense, all technologies are human enhancement

Body armor

Personal-use military technologies in particular

Shield

Missile Weapon

4th-3rd Century B.C. Human Enhancements on a Greek Hoplite

Body armor Sometimes developments in military technology lead to specialization

Melee Weapon

Missile Weapon

Shield

Medieval knight and Medieval Longbowman

Developments in new types of weapons can lead to the obsolescence of some types of warfare and other military technology

Missile Weapon

Melee Weapon

British Soldier in 1742

Missile weapon

Body armor

Developments in new types of weapons can lead to the obsolescence of some types of warfare and other military technology

Enhanced eyesight / communication

U.S. Soldier wearing Army Combat Uniform

An extreme in human enhanced military technology

Shield / Melee weapon Body armor

21st Century Human Enhanced Bruce Banner as The Incredible Hulk

Autonomous Civilization Permanent

Military Technology

Level of use/impact Type of use

Missile Internal Offensive

Purpose of use

Defensive Shock External

Examples of different ways to distinguish military technology

Amount of control Duration of use

and/or impact Locus of use

Human Individual controlled Temporary

What nanotechnology brings to the table Duration of use/impact

Locus of use

Tools that enable more

Allows technology to

permanent effects Tools that are continuous / always on and always available

move towards internal use / impact because of size and capabilities Comparatively ubiquitous

Military “Problems” Technologies are created to solve problems or enhance

capabilities Military “Problems”  







Soldiers need more effective tools to accomplish their goals Soldiers carry a heavy load, averaging just under 100 lbs in combat operations Threats to soldiers can come unexpectedly, suddenly, and can cause injuries that cannot be healed quickly Communication and coordination between autonomous individuals can be difficult Sleep deprivation hurts soldier performance – “The most immediate human performance factor in military effectiveness is degradation of performance under stressful conditions, particularly sleep deprivation.”

Military “Problems” Better weapons

toolkit Lighter load Healing / Preventing

Injuries and Death

None of these is a new challenge Different technologies/cultures

solve these challenges to different degrees and with different methods

Battlefield

Communication Sleep deprivation

and mental states of soldiers

Major advances in these solutions

can create major changes battlefield outcomes/situations

Nanotech’s approach to solving problems

In general, nanotechnology leads us to military

technology that enhances humans more permanently and more internally Makes strong inroads into previously difficult to solve problems 

For example, managing mental states of individuals

This applies to personal use military technology as

well as societal level military technology

Future Warrior Concept

Missile Weapon

Communications

Body armor

and information system Combat uniform Weapon system Soldier status monitors Power systems Locus of use

Future Warrior - Nanotechnology enabled

Image from US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, & Engineering

More effective weapons toolkit Nanoscale materials

allow for lighter devices/objects that achieve at least the same goal

Strong, lightweight materials for

weaponry Battle-suit exoskeleton can be used to augment soldier abilities Can create different types of attack 

Different scales of

weapons can allow for different types of attack

Such as, unleashing a “swarm” of nanoscale robots programmed to disrupt the electrical / chemical systems in a building (as opposed to just bombing it)

Lighter Load / Increased mobility

Historically, load size has been a

severe limiter of army mobility 

Nanoscale materials

allow for lighter devices/objects that achieve at least the same goal



One major boon to armies was when soldier could carry their own load Livy tells us that Hannibal had more than 2000 head of cattle with his army of 30,000 men

Simply making devices smaller and

lighter can make the soldier more mobile with a smaller footprint 

Legionnaire on the march

Allowing for far greater supply lines

Lighter Load / Increased mobility Nanoscale materials

allow for lighter devices/objects that achieve at least the same goal

Reducing size of powering devices

is key to reducing current load of the individual soldier Nanotechnology allows for extremely small power generation and storage devices For example, nanogenerators that turn mechanical motion into electrical energy

ZnO Nanowire Nanogenerator by X. Wang and ZL Wang

Nanoscale materials allow for Injury/death prevention

energy absorbing materials 

Nanotechnology

allows for more direct / immediate prevention, detection, and treatment of injuries



Nanoscale trusses provide the ability to absorb significant energy with light weight designs They can be made out of flexible materials such as polymers as well as nanocomposites

 Traditionally, body armor has been the solution to

Injury/death prevention Nanotechnology

allows for more direct / immediate detection and treatment of injuries These electro-

rheological materials could also be used as exomuscles to augment a soldier’s physical strength and movement

limiting injuries and/or death  Accessing nanoscale materials can give some polymers an electrorheological response  Mechanical actuators can transform a material from flexible and pliant to nonpliant and armorlike

Battlefield communication / information Ubiquitous, highly

sensitive, highly selective sensors Fast / Enhanced

Communications

 Nanoscale materials and

arrangements allow for chemical / biological sensors that are highly selective and sensitive  Nanodevices can allow these to be placed in otherwise unavailable places o For example, in the bloodstream

Image from paper by Y. Cui et al, Science

Battlefield communication / information Ubiquitous, highly

sensitive, highly selective sensors

Nanoscale sensors and

miniaturized electronics can allow for constant delivery of information to the soldier  

Fast / Enhanced

Communications



Maps, routes, mission data Vital information about health of individual and of team Reactive display – integrated night vision, heat vision, etc.

Heightened Awareness

Managing Mental States / Performance Sleep loss is a key

factor contributing to poor decision making Potentially, automatic

injection of chemicals that remove the effects of sleep loss and enhance performance are possible

 “The most immediate human

performance factor in military effectiveness is degradation of performance under stressful conditions, particularly sleep deprivation. If an opposing force had a significant sleep advantage, this would pose a serious threat.”  “Suppose a human could be engineered who slept for the same amount of time as a giraffe (1.9 hours per night). This would lead to an approximately twofold decrease in the casualty rate.” Both quotes from JASON report on Human Performance

Managing Mental States / Performance Nanoscale Sensors

allow for detection of deteriorating soldier performance Factors such as brain

patterns, hormone production, wayward eye movement, etc. can be monitored

Nanoscale sensors can help

monitor wayward eye movement, hormone production, core / skin temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, stress levels, etc. If needed, care can be triggered automatically

 In general, nanotechnology leads us to

Lighter materials and

military technology that enhances humans more permanently and more internal

devices



Military Nanotechnology

Lighter load Healing / Preventing

Injuries and Death



Battlefield

Communication  Sleep deprivation and

mental states of soldiers 

Lighter loads and devices allow an individual soldier to increase capabilities without sacrificing mobility Energy absorbing and electromechanical nanomaterials enable ubiquitous, personal body armor and injury treatment Nanoscale sensors allow for permanently connected/networked soldiers and leaders Sensors can monitor mental states, performance, and internal conditions

The Nano-Enhanced Army In a sense, military technologies have always been

enhancing humans in the same manner New technological paradigms have helped change the military in unique ways 

Not just a better mousetrap

Nanotechnology allows for military enhancement to

become more permanent and more internal