Potential Military Uses for Cold Fusion

Obviously nobody likes to contemplate the military uses for a technology like cold fusion or low energy nuclear reaction (LENR). Yet every like every other technology we’ve developed it’ll probably be used in war sooner or later. So what potential military uses are there for cold fusion and how might it affect war or at least the way the military operates in the future?

Cold fusion could make massive war machines like those from Star Wars a reality

Here are a few speculations on that subject:

  • The biggest effect cold fusion would have is to make military vehicles, naval vessels and warplanes that rarely need to be refueled possible. A tank that didn’t need to carry fuel could carry a lot more ammunition it could also stay on the battle field for a much longer time. Since nobody would need to haul fuel to the tank the trucks that used to haul fuel out to it would haul more ammunition.

  • NASA scientists Joseph Zawodny and Dennis Bushnell think it might be possible to build an LENR powered space plane. The same engine could be used for drones or warplane. One result of this could be a warplane or drone that can stay in the air for days or even weeks on end. Such a drone might be able to continually circle the earth and project military power anywhere. It might be able to hit targets in North Korea or Iran from a base in the USA. Cold fusion powered drones would definitely be able to haul far more ammunition and bombs than conventional aircraft.

Air to Air Refueling of a Fighter Plane

  • The cost of waging war or projecting military power would undoubtedly be cheaper because militaries would no longer need large amounts of fuel. Instead they could carry more ammunition, equipment or weaponry. Troops and vehicles could stay in the field longer and cover greater distances. A country with cold fusion could move more troops and weapons to the battlefield and keep them there longer.
  • Warships that rarely have to return to port would be possible because of LENR. An example of such a ship might be an aircraft carrier that could stay on station permanently in a region such as the Persian Gulf because it wouldn’t have to return for fuel. Instead the crew and aircraft would be shuttled on and off.
  • The cost of national defense would be cheaper because there would be no need to buy large amounts of fuel for the Navy and the Air Force. Also eliminated would be the military’s refueling infrastructure such as the Navy’s tankers and the Air Force’s Air Tankers.
  • LENR explosives might be possible. Many LENR experiments have produced powerful explosions so it might be possible to create an LENR explosive. One result of this could be explosives that produce the destructive force of nuclear weapons without the radiation release. That means it might be feasible to achieve President Obama and President Reagan’s dream of eliminating nuclear weapons because a clean alternative would be available to serve as a deterrent. Such explosives could have peaceful uses such as mining or demolition as well.

The Big Guns on the World War II battleship USS Iowa

  • The same cold fusion that powers NASA space planes could be used to power a new generation of missiles.
  • LENR powered canons might be possible as well. If LENR could be harnessed it could power giant canons similar to the guns on 20th Century battleships. Such canon were also used as railroad guns by the Germans in both World Wars.

  • The vast amounts of electricity generated by LENR could be used to power exotic next generation weaponry such as lasers, rail guns and particle beam weapons. Current research indicates that such weapons are possible but impractical because of the huge amounts of electricity they require. Cold fusion powered generators might make such weapons a practical alternative to present day rockets and artillery.

Concept art of a US military robot it looks like a Star Wars walker doesn't it.

  • LENR might be used to power robots and drone weapons and let them stay on the battlefield permanently. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) which develops new weapons technologies for the Pentagon is known to be interested in LENR and robotics. One possible use of LENR would be to power walking vehicles such as the Imperial Walkers from the Star Wars movies. A company called Boston Dynamics has already built a walker for DARPA.

Obviously this is just the tip of the iceberg for the military uses of LENR. Hopefully such uses will be limited and that LENR will only be harnessed by democratic nations such as the United States. It is also obvious that harnessing cold fusion is vital to the national security of democratic nations. The United States and other democratic nations must harness this technology before undemocratic nations that would use it for conquest do.

Continue reading here: Open Source LENR Effort Could Lead to New Technology Boom

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