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Will metaphorical hissing serpents be the way the world ultimately ends?

Lately I have watched a number episodes of TV law enforcement series built around the illicit use of Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs). I thought it was science fiction the first time around. But after several episodes, I felt compelled to look into the idea. I learned, to my dismay, that DEWs are real.

In simple terms, DEWs are ranged weapons that damage targets with highly focused energy without a solid projectile. They come in several forms:

High Energy Lasers which have the ability to engage targets at the speed of light and with pinpoint accuracy although adversely effected by rain, fog or other weather conditions.

High Power Microwaves which have a shorter range but are not affected by weather and can impact targets over a wider area.

Millimeter Waves which are non-lethal but can cause significant injuries.

Particle Beams which have strong penetration ability, high speed, high energy and can operate in all weather conditions.

All the major world powers are in the development stage with DEWs including the U.S., China, France, Spain, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom, Iran and Turkey. In the U.S., this includes the Pentagon, DARPA, the Air Force Research Laboratory, United States Army Armament Research Development and Engineering Centre and the Naval Research Laboratory.

Are DEWs actually legal for use? Apparently, yes. They are considered legal under international law provided they comply with the principles of distinction and proportionality which forbid causing unnecessary suffering. That vague definition has loopholes in it big enough to fly a Boeing 747 through.  

Fortunately DEWs have not been utilized yet. Oh wait, it seems that is not true. Turkey claims to have used an AKLA directed-energy weapon in August 2019 against Libya. China is suspected of using ground-based laser weapons against satellites and to disrupt soldiers on contested borders with neighbouring countries.

DEWs being developed by the U.S., in principle to counter ballistic missiles, hypersonic cruise missiles and hypersonic glide vehicles, are expected to come online in the next few years. (Please, please, please not before Trump is impeached!)

Quite frankly, the whole idea of DEWs scares the hell out of me. It is the new frontier in the quest to find ever more powerful and sophisticated ways of killing or maiming people and establishing military dominance. The spectre of these weapons falling into the wrong hands is terrifying to contemplate.

There are several metaphors for weapons of destruction. The most appropriate one when it comes to DEWs is hissing serpents. Will this be the way the world ends? A catastrophic battle of biblical proportions of hissing serpents that obliterates everyone and everything?

 ~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

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Tags:   DEWs · Directed Energy Weapons · hissing serpents · metaphor · Michael Robert DyetNo Comments