十大皮包品牌排名榜 RETHINKING ARCTIC WARFARE: Where Drones Drop Dead and GPS Goes Haywire NATO militaries and startups aim to tackle the unique challenges of fighting in the Arctic, as the risk of conflict there…

RETHINKING ARCTIC WARFARE: Where Drones Drop Dead and GPS Goes Haywire NATO militaries and startups aim to tackle the unique challenges of fighting in the Arctic, as the risk of conflict there increases. Modern warfare technology, like drones and robots, faces significant challenges in the Arctic due to extreme cold, magnetic storms, and nigation difficulties. Sending drones and robots into battle, rather than humans, has become a tenet of modern warfare. Nowhere does that make more sense than in the frozen expanses of the Arctic. But the closer you get to the North Pole, the less useful cutting-edge technology becomes. Magnetic storms distort satellite signals; frigid temperatures drain batteries or freeze equipment in minutes; nigation systems lack reference points on snowfields. During a seven-nation polar exercise in Canada earlier this year to test equipment worth millions of dollars, the U.S. military’s all-terrain arctic vehicles broke down after 30 minutes because hydraulic fluids congealed in the cold. Swedish soldiers participating in the exercise were handed $20,000 night-vision optics that broke because the aluminum in the goggles couldn’t handle the minus 40 degree Fahrenheit conditions. “The Arctic is the ultimate adversary,” said Eric Slesinger, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer who now runs a venture-capital firm bankrolling defense startups, including some trying to master arctic fighting. In Ukraine, armed forces use off-the-shelf gear, from power sources and communications tools to chemicals and lubricants. In the Arctic, using such basics often requires thorough re-engineering. Great-power competition is growing in the High North as climate change opens sea lanes and access to natural resources. Russia is militarily dominant there, with nuclear-submarine forces, missile bases, airfields and ports on the Kola Peninsula. The shortest flight path to North America for Russia’s next-generation hypersonic cruise missiles is over the North Pole. An arctic conflict would force war planners back to basics. Extreme cold makes the most common components brittle. Low temperatures alter the physical properties of rubber, causing seals to lose their elasticity and leak. Traces of water or humidity freeze into ice crystals that can scratch pumps and create blockages. Wires should be insulated with silicone rather than PVC, which can crack. Oil and other lubricants thicken and congeal. In most standard hydraulic systems, fluid becomes syrupy and can affect everything from aircraft controls to missile launchers and radar masts. A single freeze-up can knock out an entire weapons platform or immobilize a convoy. One of the Arctic’s great tourist attractions is, for military planners, one of its great irritants: the northern lights. CONTINUES 👇 https://lnkd.in/eq4R2ayg