New physical principles weapons
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New physical principles weapons are a wide range of weapons or systems created using emerging technologies, like
wave In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be periodic, in which case those quantities oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (res ...
, psychophysical, and genetic weapons. This definition is similar to "new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons" used in documentation from
United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
sessions since 1975 and "
non-lethal weapon Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than conventional ...
s" used by the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
(NATO).


Definitions


Weapons using new physical principle

The term is currently used primarily in Russia. The ''Encyclopedia of the Russian Ministry of Defense'' identifies the following types of new physical principles weapons that have been developed to varying degrees by the 21st century: *
directed energy weapon A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. Potential applications of this technology include w ...
s, like
infrasound Infrasound, sometimes referred to as low status sound, describes sound waves with a frequency below the lower limit of human audibility (generally 20 Hz). Hearing becomes gradually less sensitive as frequency decreases, so for humans to perce ...
, laser, and
super-high frequency Super high frequency (SHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies (RF) in the range between 3 and 30 gigahertz (GHz). This band of frequencies is also known as the centimetre band or centimetre wave as the wavelengths range from one to ...
weapons * electromagnetic weapons, such as some lasers and super-high frequency weapons *
geophysical Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...
weapons, including climate, ozone, environmental, and seismic weapons * genetic weapons * non-lethal arms *
radiological In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visib ...
weapons


New weapon of mass destructions

New types of " weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons" were defined by the
United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
in 1975. In 1976, the
US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
stated that these weapons are based on "qualitatively new principles of action", which can be new due to the nature of the impact, target to be attacked, method of action, or how they are used. Examples given were infrasound weapons designed to damage internal organs and affect human behavior; genetic weapons, the use of which would affect the mechanism of heredity; ray weapons capable of affecting blood and intracellular plasma; robotic military equipment; unmanned controlled aircraft; and weapon systems, like aerospace weapon systems, where nuclear weapons are transported by spaceships and thereby more dangerous. In the never-adopted draft treaty of 1975, the proposed language in the United Nations Disarmament Conference classification for "new weapons of mass description" to be banned included: * radiological means of the non-explosive type acting with the aid of radioactive materials * technical means of inflicting radiation injury based on the use of charged or neutral particles to affect biological targets * infrasonic means using acoustic radiation to affect biological targets * means using electromagnetic radiation to affect biological targets. The Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques of 1977 does not identify specific weapons or technology.


Non-lethal weapons

NATO definition of non-lethal weapons include new responsive technologies—like lasers, kinetic and acoustic devices. Examples of non-lethal weapons are counter-personnel and radio-frequency vehicle stopping technologies. The
United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
's current and future non-lethal weapons programs include active denial, counter-personnel capability that creates a heating sensation, quickly repelling potential adversaries with minimal risk of injury in such missions as force protection, perimeter defense, crowd control, patrols/convoys, defensive and offensive operations.


United Nations conventions

New weapons of mass destruction that have harmful effects on people and the ecological balance of the planet are, in essence, criminal and contrary to the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques of 1977. Rather than identifying specific weapons, the Convention on the Prohibition of Military or Any Other Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques of 1977 prohibits use of "military or any other hostile use of environmental modification techniques having widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage or injury to any other State Party". This includes deliberate actions taken to change the atmosphere, hydrosphere, outer space, or in other ways affect the dynamics, structure or composition of the earth. The
Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), or Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC), is a disarmament treaty that effectively bans biological and toxin weapons by prohibiting their development, production, acquisition, transfer, stockpil ...
of 1972. The Seventh Review Conference was held in Geneva in December 2011, which resulted in the Final Declaration document that affirmed that "under all circumstances the use of bacteriological (biological) and toxin weapons is effectively prohibited by the Convention". The
Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons The Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons, Protocol IV of the 1980 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, was issued by the United Nations on 13 October 1995. It came into force on 30 July 1998. As of the end of April 2018, the protocol had been ...
, Protocol IV of the 1980
Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons The United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW or CCWC), concluded at Geneva on October 10, 1980, and entered into force in December 1983, seeks to prohibit or restrict the use of certain conventional weapons which are consid ...
, was issued by the United Nations on October 13, 1995 and came into force on July 30, 1998.


Weapons development

Russian military doctrine refers to new physical principles weapons, while describing the main features of these weapons as comparable in effect to nuclear weapons but more acceptable in political terms. It was reported in October 2016 that Russia had tested a new electronic weapon, based on new physical principles, that uses directed-energy to neutralize on-board aircraft equipment,
unmanned combat aerial vehicle An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, colloquially shortened as drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance ...
s, and precision weapons. In 2015, it announced a blinding weapon, Rook, that creates a disabling light interference, which can be used against night-vision equipment. It uses
ultraviolet Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nanometer, nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 Hertz, PHz) to 400 nm (750 Hertz, THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than ...
,
infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
, and visible regions of the spectrum and can change the width and direction of the beam to target specific objects. In November 2016, Putin stated that the new physical principles weapons comply with all of the country's international obligations.


See also

*
Active Denial System The Active Denial System (ADS) is a Non-lethal weapon, non-lethal directed-energy weapon developed by the United States armed forces, U.S. military, designed for area denial, perimeter security and crowd control. Informally, the weapon is also c ...
*
Cyberwarfare Cyberwarfare is the use of cyber attacks against an enemy state, causing comparable harm to actual warfare and/or disrupting vital computer systems. Some intended outcomes could be espionage, sabotage, propaganda, manipulation or economic war ...
*
Directed-energy weapon A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. Potential applications of this technology include we ...
*
Hybrid warfare Hybrid warfare is a theory of military strategy, first proposed by Frank Hoffman, which employs political warfare and blends conventional warfare, irregular warfare, and cyberwarfare with other influencing methods, such as fake news Fake ne ...
*
Psychological warfare Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), have been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and Mi ...


References


External links

* {{emerging technologies, topics=yes, military=yes Weapons of mass destruction Directed-energy weapons Emerging technologies Non-lethal weapons