The Impact of Nanotechnology Energetics on the Department of Defense by 2035

Abstract

Nanotechnology will have a profound impact on the profession of arms by 2035. Breakthroughs in this burgeoning science will foster the miniaturization of weapons, decrease the cost of space launch systems, and make resilient rechargeable battery power readily available. The U.S. Department of Defense must embrace nanotechnology research and development in order to capitalize on these developments. Preparing for new nanotechnology-inspired weapons will provide the depth of technological understanding required to field new systems and to adequately deter nations, non-state actors, and individuals that may attempt to use nanotechnology in malevolent ways. It is important to precisely define what is meant by nanotechnology as this term has come to have many different meanings to different elements of the scientific community. Nano is a scientific prefix meaning one-billionth (10-9); a nanometer (nm) is one-billionth of a meter. The United States National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) definition of nanotechnology will be used for this paper.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 17, 2010
Accession Number
AD1018585

Entities

People

  • Ancel Ii B. Yarbrough

Organizations

  • Air War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Carbon Nanotubes
  • Energy Harvesting
  • Energy Storage
  • Explosives
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Materials Testing
  • Metastable Intermolecular Composites
  • Nanoenergetics
  • Nanotechnology
  • National Security
  • Space Systems
  • Subatomic Particles
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Nanoscale Plasmonic Nanotechnology
  • Strategic Security Studies
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Space
  • Space - Satellites