9781422282984

STEM IN CURRENT EVENTS  Agriculture  Energy  Entertainment Industry  Environment & Sustainability  Forensics  Information Technology  Medicine and Health Care  Space Science  Transportation  War and the Military

WAR AND THE MILITARY

High-Tech Targeting

Science Saves Soldiers

Stealth Planes Engineered for Invisibility

STEM IN CURRENT EVENTS

Agriculture Energy Entertainment Industry Environment & Sustainability Forensics Information Technology Medicine and Health Care

Space Science Transportation War and the Military

STEM IN CURRENT EVENTS

WAR AND THE MILITARY

By John Perritano

MASON CREST

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com

© 2017 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3587-4 ISBN: 978-1-4222-3597-3 ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-8298-4

Produced by Shoreline Publishing Group Designer: Tom Carling, Carling Design Inc. Production: Sandy Gordon www.shorelinepublishing.com

Front cover: U.S. Army tl, tr; U.S. Air Force b

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Perritano, John, author. Title: War and the military / by John Perritano. Description: Broomall, PA : Mason Crest, [2016] | Series: STEM in current events | Includes index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016004807| ISBN 9781422235973 (hardback) | ISBN 9781422235874 (series) | ISBN 9781422282984 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Military art and science--Juvenile literature. | Military weapons--Juvenile literature. | Military research--Juvenile literature.

Classification: LCC U106 .P48 2016 | DDC 355/.07--dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016004807

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Contents

Introduction: Ten-Hut!.......................................................................................6 1 Science and the Military....................................................... 12 2 Technology and the Military...............................................28 3 Engineering and the Military............................................. 40 4 Math and the Military.......................................................... 52 Find Out More. ...................................................................................................62

Series Glossary of Key Terms..........................................................................63

Index/Author..................................................................................................... 64

Key Icons to Look For

Words to Understand: These words with their easy-to-understand definitions will increase the reader’s understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills.

Sidebars: This boxedmaterial within themain text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos : Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing themwith additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more!

Text-Dependent Questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented here.

Research Projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains termi­ nology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

Two F-15 jets escort a B-2 bomber during a training flight. Technology, materials science, and aeronautical engineering innovation all went into making the B-2 one of the most advanced aircraft ever flown.

7

Science and Energy

INTRODUCTION Ten-Hut!

Words to Understand electromagnetic  magnetic energy such as light waves, X-rays, radio waves, and ultraviolet radiation fuselage  the body of an airplane ordnance  military supplies, including weapons and ammunition tyrannical  describes the actions of a dictatorial ruler

N othing can be more alarming to soldiers in battle than an enemy they cannot see. So it was in the skies over war-torn Yugoslavia when two bat-winged airplanes seemingly appeared out of nowhere.The planes’ mission was to drop satellite-guided bombs onSerbian forceswagingwar against the people of Kosovo. These weren’t ordinary warplanes. They were American-made B-2 Stealth bombers. Flying out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, these super-secret planes looked like an alien space- craft. Sleek, black, and nearly silent, the planes were designed by engineers and scientists to be invisible to enemy radar. The

8

S T E M I N C U R R E N T E V E N T S

A head-on view shows the radar-deflecting skin of the B-2. The black holes on either side of the cockpit are air intakes for the jet engines.

high-tech bombers performed well in tests, but had never flown in combat until that cold spring morning over the Balkans.

The crews of both planes were on edge as the bombers penetrat- ed enemy air space some 14 hours after leaving Missouri. “Early on, we weren’t sure what the enemy was capable of seeing or anything like that,” one of the pilots, Lt. Col. Terry Sunnarborg, later said in an interview.

At one point, Serbian fighter pilots battled American F-15s just below the B-2s.The enemy pilots had no idea the Stealth bombers

9

Introduction

were soaring above their heads. Would the bombers’ cloak of invisibility last? No one knew. The B-2s prepared for the bomb run as they inched closer to their targets. Sneaky Engineering TheB-2swere amarvel of science.Engineers shaped theB-2 body to scatter radar signals.Radar sends out beams of electromagnetic waves called microwaves.When those waves hit an aircraft, they bounce back to the radar. A radar operator can then tell where the plane is and how fast it is moving. Without any sharp edges or angles, radar signals should have skipped off the B-2 like a stone on water. The plane’s builders also coated the bomber with a special material to ab- sorb the microwaves. Scientists also had to find a way to eliminate the heat and noise from the airplane’s engines and to mask the gases from its exhaust system. Unlike other bombers, nothing hung from the B‑2 fuselage . No guns. No bombs. No weapons. From Dippin’ Dots to GPS Some of the products we use today were developed by scientists during wartime. For example, Dippin’ Dots is freeze-dried ice cream. The pro- cess used to make the tasty treats was developed during World War II (1939–45) as a way to preserve medical supplies.

Moreover, GPS systems, which use satellites to pinpoint location and get people where they are going, were invented by the U.S. military during the 1990s and later adapted for civilian use.

All was going according to plan as the planesmade theirway toYugoslavia.The Stealthbombers secretly cut through the sky as the enemy remained unaware.

10

S T E M I N C U R R E N T E V E N T S

Stealth Defense With no onboard weapons to defend themselves—stealth and surprise was their only protection—the planes reached their targets, 16 in all, without anyone on the ground noticing. With a resounding “clunk,” the bomb-bay doors of the planes finally opened, releasing their deadly ordnance .The bombs fell as the planes shuddered. “That’s when the hairs on the back of my neck just started to kind of raise and I realized this is for real,” Sunnarborg said.

Army crewmen load the enormous bombs that the B-2 carried into action in Serbia. The B-2s have also served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

11

Introduction

Sixteen targets. Sixteen direct hits.The B-2 Stealth bomber, the most technologically and scientifically sophisticated plane in the history of warfare,worked flawlessly. Since then,B-2s have flown in every major military campaign involving the United States, including recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, along with air strikes in Libya and elsewhere. Science andWarfare Science and technology of one sort or another have always led the charge in battle, whether victory was sought to free a people, dispose of a despotic ruler, or to gain or protect territory. Wars have served for centuries as a means for technological change and scientific innovation. Bows and arrows replaced spears and rocks. Swords evolved from knives and daggers. Guns morphed from single-shot muskets to rapid-fire automatic weapons. Scientists, inventors, and engineers still use their talents to solve the problems of warfare. In fact, many countries, including the United States, spendmuch of their treasure developing new and better ways of waging war and protecting soldiers. Science and war have always sung a deadly duet. Perhaps that relationship is best described by John Abbott, who served as Canada’s prime minister in the late 1800s: “War is the science of destruction,” he said.

The issue of using poison gas created by scientists in warfare has long been controversial. Here, citizens protest the use of gas by Syrian forces in 2011.

13

Science and Energy

SCIENCE AND The Military

1

Words to Understand anesthetic  a substance that reduces sensitivity to pain and may cause unconsciousness enzyme  a substance produced by cells that speeds up the chemical reactions necessary for life intravenously  method of injecting drugs directly into veins platelets  tiny particles that help blood clot regime  the government in power

A bd al-Mouin took a deep breath. Soon he gasped in pain.The 22-year-old knewwhat was happening.The house reeked of bleach, the tell-tale sign of chlorine gas.He corralled his nephews and rushed them outside. Every time Mouin inhaled, it felt like his lungs were on fire. Finally, Mouin passed out, his worst fears realized. Mouin and his neighbors living in the Syrian town of Sarmeen were victims of a chlorine gas attack.

14

S T E M I N C U R R E N T E V E N T S

Those in the village that day had seen and heard government helicopters flying overhead moments before the noxious fumes wafted across town. Soon the unmistakable smell of chlorine tumbled down alleyways and into basements.Victims stumbled into clinics searching for relief. It wasn’t the first time the Syrian government had attacked the town with chemicals. “People are so used to it,” a rescue worker told The New York Times . “We know the sound of a helicopter that goes to a low height and drops a barrel. Nobody has aircraft except the regime .” The attack was one in a string of atrocities that began with the Syrian civil war in 2011.At the time, the people of Syria protest- ed against the brutal government policies of President Bashar al-Assad. In response, Assad cracked down on the “protestors.” Although the use of chlorine gas was banned by international treaty in 1925, it didn’t stopAssad fromunleashing several chem- ical attacks against rebel-held towns. In addition to chlorine, the Syrian army also used sarin gas, one of the most dangerous and toxic chemicals on the planet. Sarin—clear, colorless, and tasteless—is a liquid.When sarin hits the air, it turns into a gas. Its effects are similar to an insecticide. Sarin attacks the nervous system, affecting an enzyme that acts as an “off switch” in the body. The sarin-soaked enzyme never turns the body’s muscles and glands off and they stay constantly stimulated. The gas chokes people to death as they shake un- controllably.