Technological Innovations Have Had the Greatest Impact

¶ … technological innovations have had the greatest impact on this area in the last 100-200 years?

Technology and air war fare-

Originally, warfare was mainly perpetrated on ground due to the challenges in perpetrating war form the air. Within the last 100 years, however, huge progress has been made in technology that has led to a radical change in the field of air warfare in general leading to huge developments in that field. Three of the greatest inventions have been stealth technology, Rapture, and the drone.

Stealth technology

Stealth technology, also known as LO technology (low observable technology) involves a range of techniques that camouflages factors of air war such as personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missile and helps make them more invisible to preceptors on the ground. It also makes them more immune to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection methods. (Rao & Mahulikar, 2002). Stealth technology was first developed by the U.S.A. In 1958 as part of the Cold War project to camouflage U-2 spy planes (Mahulikar et al., 2007). Earlier attempts to make them withstand radar surveillance had failed. Essentially, steps were taken to shape and form the surface composition of, for instance, the plane and to develop it in such a way that electromagnetic waves were redirected from radars making the object less immune to discovery. Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit "Stealth Bomber" is an example in kind of just such a warfare plane that demonstrates the heights of such technology (Richelson, 2001).

Ever since the 1960s, the technology has grown by leaps and bounds and is applied to relevant objects in stages determining on the particular level of threat that that object signifies. Some military uniforms are treated with chemicals to reduce their infrared signature, whilst other objects (such as planes) are fashioned form the start to confuse radar signatures. As detection and interception technologies have become more sophisticated, the growth of stealth technologies has developed too.

The drone (or an unmanned aerial vehicle) is another wonder of technology that has changed the face of air warfare.

These are planes that are not controlled by any pilot, rather their flight is directed from the ground by remote control of a navigator, or pilot (otherwise called a Combat Systems Officer) or by computer that is on the plane itself.

Drones come in manifold sizes, shapes, configurations, and are equipped with huge differences of characteristics. Initially, they were simply remotely piloted but autonomous control has recently become a more common feature. The first drone was that invented by A.M. Low -- his "Aerial Target" - in 1916. The Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane was introduced during the First World War, and the Remote Piloted Vehicle (RPV) made its entrance in 1936. More were produced -- by both Germany and the Allies -- during WWII, and jet engines existed after the War (Calo, 2011). The Beechcroft Company produced the Model 1001 for the Navy and the first U.S. UAVs made their birth with the Vietnam War. Although mostly used for air warfare, drones have also become employed in other fields such as firefighting and nonmilitary security work.

The benefit of drones for air warfare is that they redirect much of the dangerousness saving cost of human lives. If the plane is targeted, destruction ensues to plane alone; no human life is involved (Sauer, et al., 2012).

Conclusion

Drones, stealth technology and rapture has contributed vastly to air warfare in a large number of ways. Stealth technology has made planes and other factors of air warfare more inconspicuous to detection. Drones have circumvented the problems of drafting and expending waste of human life, whilst rapture has..