No.28
Have you ever wondered about the construction techniques, materials, and components selected for Military applications?
Military Technology is technology. Military Technology is widely understood to filter down into commercial use, however if you look i suspect you may find that there is just as much Civilian Technology filtering its way upwards in echelons of Military Technology. The appropriate terminology for this is Dual Use.
Universities have received funding for nearly a hundred years in the west to produce scientific research that is of interest to western Military apparatus. Many of these innovations can then be patented, and sold on the civilian market, or in the case of basic research, its insights are normally, and for the most part directly available to anyone. For example, the mathematics of anti-aircraft seeking missiles is freely available today, likely at your local public library.
My sense is that the lion's share of innovations in Military Technology lie in the hardening, ruggedization and construction techniques instead of some kind of transcendent alien technology, or some secret trove of found or developed technology hoarded by the Military. Most of the special sauce is nothing special at all. Some of it is quite unique, however.
An engineering problem is encountered and a corporation fulfilling the Military contract is incentivized to fund scientific research, sometimes basic research in order to solve it. In the Civilian sphere, you will rarely encounter a customer who required a bespoke solution at an industrial scale.
The result is an interesting admixture, especially of older specimens, of now-commodified-cheap componentry and hand assembly. There is a tremendous amount to be learned from the study of current and historic developments.
This French🇫🇷 man sources and records tear downs of many types Military Technology, from vintage AIM-9 IR Seeker heads and their Soviet counterpart, the K-13, to Military RF gear, Flight Avionics, and even an examination of a recovered Iranian Shahed One-Way Attack Drone servo and control surface. The results are truly illuminating.
What else could people learn from this rubble?
