NATIONAL SECURITY AND GLOBAL STABILITY
Science and Technology Assuring Our Preparedness and Improving Global Stability "Our nation's security derives from a combination of diplomatic leadership, economic vitality and military might. Advances in science and technology underlie our strengths, promoting stability through engagement, giving rise to new industries, and ensuring that our Armed Forces remain the best trained, best equipped, and best prepared in the world. --President Bill Clinton As our nation moves into the twenty-first century, we find ourselves faced with greater opportunities for peace and prosperity as well as new challenges to our nation's security and to global stability. The dissolution of a single major military threat has opened new opportunities for broadening peaceful alliances. It has been replaced, however, by an environment in which the dangers are more dispersed and increasingly varied. The accelerating diffusion of information, people, capital, and technology multiplies the paths to greater global prosperity and sustainable growth. However, it also raises the risk of proliferation of advanced weapons, including weapons of mass destruction, and of terrorist acts against the United States. Although the advance of all nations in commerce and trade bears hope for continued economic growth around the globe, increased consumption combined with demographic pressures from the world's expanding population aggravate large-scale environmental and resource degradation, which saps long-term economic strength and undermines political stability. All of these trends mean a greater interdependence among nations, in which the achievement of common interests can be more fully realized, but in which the ripples of negative events can propagate swiftly across the planet. The strategic development and use of science and technology strengthens our ability to meet these challenges. ENSURING THE NATION'S SECURITY THROUGH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Meeting threats to stability and security requires an enduring
commitment to diplomatic engagement, military preparedness, and economic
performance. In each instance, our science and technology investments
and international cooperation play a key role. For over half a century,
scientific discovery and technological innovation have advanced our
military capabilities and economic prosperity, strengthening the United
States' position as the preeminent world leader.
SUSTAINING A STRONG MILITARY CAPABILITY
For decades, possession of superior technology has been a cornerstone of
U.S. military strategy. Technologies such as radar, jet engines, night
vision, the Global Positioning System, smart weapons, and stealth have
changed warfare dramatically. Maintaining this technological edge has
become even more important as the size of U.S. forces decreases and high
technology weapons become more readily available on the world market. In
this new environment, it is imperative that U.S. forces possess
technological superiority to ensure success and minimize casualties
across the broad spectrum of possible engagements. The technological
advantage enjoyed by the United States in Operation Desert Storm, and
still enjoyed today, is a legacy of decades of wise investments in
science and technology. Similarly, our warfighting capabilities ten to
fifteen years from now will be substantially determined by today's
investment in science and technology. p.58.JPGAs the armed forces prepare to enter the twenty-first century, modernizing U.S. military hardware is a central goal of our defense budget planning. Shown here are artists' conceptions of candidate prototypes for the Joint Strike Fighter. Advanced technologies - materials, propulsion systems, flight controls, weapon system management and systems integration - are at the heart of this next generation fighter and enable its tailored use by the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, advancing performance and reducing development and operating costs. CHANGING THE FACE OF WAR
New technologies have dramatically enhanced our ability to both prepare
for and execute military actions. By supporting advances in information
technologies, sensors, and simulation we strengthen our ability to plan
and conduct military operations, quickly design and produce military
systems, and train our forces in more realistic settings. These
technologies are also central to greater battlefield awareness, enabling
our forces to acquire large amounts of information, analyze it quickly,
and communicate it to multiple users simultaneously for coordinated and
precise action. As former Defense Secretary William J. Perry has noted,
these are the technological breakthroughs that are "changing the face of
war and how we prepare for war."
These new
operational concepts interact to create an overall effect of full
spectrum dominance: the capability to dominate an adversary across the
full range of military operations. Full spectrum dominance will be a key
characteristic of U.S. Armed Forces for the twenty-first century. BASIC RESEARCH: THE FOUNDATION OF DEFENSE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The defense science and technology programs involve both long-term
research and near-term applications. By their nature, the end products
of long-term research are often difficult to predict, resulting in
applications not originally envisioned. Only in hindsight are we able to
appreciate all of the military advantages provided by breakthroughs such
as radar, digital computers, semiconductor electronics, lasers, fiber
optics, and highly accurate navigation systems.
p.59.JPGInnovations in
basic and applied science and technology by the Army
Research Laboratory have resulted in major contributions to the
development of the M1 tank. Continued research will further enhance
combat capabilities through advances such as high resolution displays,
lighter weight structures, advanced gun propulsion, active
protection systems, smart kinetic energy penetrators, and advanced
vehicle propulsion.
Fully realizing
the rewards of basic research, therefore, requires sustained and
broad-based investments - a high priority of this Administration.
Additionally, an important part of the Administration's defense basic
research strategy is to more fully exploit the potential of selected
multidisciplinary areas of research that offer significant benefits to
our military operations, including the following.
Research accomplishments in some of these fertile areas have already had a significant impact on technology areas such as advanced structures and new classes of sensitive detectors.
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APPLIED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
The Administration has designed a strategic approach to applied research and advanced development to get the most out of our defense science and technology investment in an increasingly difficult fiscal environment. The tri-service Defense Technology Area Plan comprehensively describes the investment strategy for critical defense technologies. It identifies the anticipat ed return on the science and technology investment through nearly 200 Defense Technology Objectives in ten broad technology areas. Each Defense Technology Objective identifies a specific technology advance that will be developed or demonstrated, the anticipated date that the technology will be available, and the specific benefits that should result. These benefits not only include increased military operational capabilities, but other important areas as well, including affordability and dual use applications.
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NEW WAYS OF DOING BUSINESS
To increase the performance and reduce the costs of new defense
technologies, the Administration has launched initiatives that reflect
new ways of doing business. These new initiatives include policies to
strengthen acquisition reform, promote dual-use-technologies, and
sharpen technology demonstrations.
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COUNTERING PROLIFERATION OF
Throughout the Cold War, the United States faced, in the Soviet Union,
an adversary armed with nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons.
During that period, the ability of each side to absorb an attack by
these weapons and still be capable of responding with a devastating
counterattack ensured that neither superpower used these frightful
weapons against the other. Today, the United States and Russia are
working together to reduce and dismantle the arsenals they built up
during the Cold War. However, we face a continuing challenge as these
types of advanced weaponry threaten to spread to other states and
nonstate actors around the world. |
DEFENDING AGAINST TERRORISM
The tragedy of terrorism has come closer and closer to home. The United
States had long been insulated from large-scale acts of terrorism until the terrorist attacks on the U.S. embassy and on U.S. forces in Lebanon in 1983, and the downing of Pan Am flig
ht 103 in 1988, killed hundreds of Americans. With the World Trade Center bombing in 1993 - intended to kill thousands - massive acts of terrorism came to our shores. The chemical attack against Tokyo subway riders in 1995 raised the prospect that weapons
far more devastating than conventional explosives were entering terrorist arsenals. Measures to prevent, minimize, and recover from acts of terrorism - whether via conventional, unconventional, or information attack-are essential, and must be undertaken a
t all levels, from the local to the international.
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MOBILIZING SCIENCE AND
As one member of a global community, the United States shares with the world common threats and challenges to sustained economic development. Environmental degradation, natural resource depletion, natural disasters, and disease can have major consequences
that threaten every nation. The rapid growth of the world's population, projected to increase by up to one billion each decade, exacerbates many of these dilemmas. History has shown that population pressures can offset economic growth, lead to
unsustainable demands on food, other resources and the environment, and contribute to disorder and mass dislocations. These pressures threaten global stability and security and are likely only to grow more pressing with the passing of time.
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STRENGTHENING OUR INTERNATIONAL
The Administration's strategy for applying science and technology to
meet these challenges builds upon the strengths of preventive diplomacy,
strategic engagement and international partnerships. Through preventive
diplomacy, the Administration endeavors to resolve problems, reduce
tensions, and defuse conflicts before they become crises. Employing
science and technology to bolster preventive diplomacy adds a new
dimension to our arsenal to promote stability and security. The
President's Committee of
Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) has stressed the
importance of this approach, noting that "what is required is a shift in
thinking akin to the change of emphasis in medicine from emergency rooms
and intensive care units to preventive primary care and public health."
p.69.JPGCooperation in
science and technology has been of great value in responding to
international disasters and human tragedies.
Volcano Disaster Assistance Program and Rabaul Volcano Observatory personnel
installed volcano-monitoring instruments near the erupting Tavurvur
volcano in Papua New Guinea. Fifty thousand people were successfully
evacuated before the simultaneous eruption of two volcanos. With these
instruments, scientists predicted the eruptions and provided information
about when it was safe to return. International cooperation in science and technology is also a means of more effectively achieving our national goals. For example, to more effectively mitigate the impacts of natural disasters, cooperation is invaluable. Although disasters are somewhat rare locally, they are common globally. Therefore cooperation yields valuable information and is a positive sum strategy for all nations. Cooperation can be used to accelerate the development of new technologies, data, and monitoring systems; reduce the costs of achieving needed advances or of gathering needed knowledge; pave the way for trade between U.S. manufacturers and international users; and mitigate the damage to facilities and capabilities overseas in which the United States has interests. FOSTERING GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS
The Administration continues to work with other nations to build the
framework through which cooperation in science and technology can
strengthen our ability to stem global threats, foster sustainable
development, and advance areas of mutual interest. The Administration
has promoted the development of platforms for engagement through
bilateral commissions with nations including Russia, China, Ukraine,
South Africa, and Egypt; through priority bilateral science and
technology cooperation with key partners, including Japan and the
European Union; and through multilateral forums such as the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development, Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and Summit of
Americas. These arrangements facilitate a constant dialogue among
science and technology policymakers, provide a steady framework to
promote and protect U.S. interests abroad, apply science and technology
more aggressively to meet our foreign policy priorities, and advance the
frontiers of knowledge by drawing on a greater range of resources.
Strategic engagement and international partnerships underlie our ability
to incorporate science and technology into our foreign policy goals. |
THE EVOLVING CHALLENGES OF THE FUTURE
Science and
technology play an increasingly central role in the Administration's
strategy for sustaining our nation's security and global stability.
Through investments at home, advanced technologies will continue to be
key to ensuring our military advantage. Through strategic engagement
with other nations, collaboration in science and technology will help
stem the flow of weapons of mass destruction, enforce our international
arms treaties, mitigate economic and environmental stresses on societies,
and promote the linkages that will lead us to a stable and sustainable
world.
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OF OUR NUCLEAR WEAPONS
For over 50 years since the United States detonated the world's first
nuclear weapon in the New Mexico desert, weapons designers have relied
first on atmospheric testing, and later on nuclear tests conducted
underground, to verify the performance of nuclear weapons and to develop
new designs. Paramount was the need to ensure that the weapons in the
U.S. nuclear arsenal were reliable (would work as intended in a hostile
war environment) and safe (could not be set off accidentally).
p.60.JPGTo ensure the
safety and reliability of our nuclear weapons stockpile without
nuclear testing, the Department of Energy's national security
laboratories ( Los Alamos, Sandia, and
Livermore)
will build new scientific and computer facilities. The
National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Livermore will be the world's most
powerful laser and will produce nuclear fusion reactions in small target
pellets. NIF experiments will sustain confidence in the aging stockpile
as well as open up new areas of basic science and inertial fusion. The
target chamber shown here is for Nova, the Livermore laser facility now
in operation. Its fusion targets, about the size of grains of sand, reach
temperatures and pressures comparable to the center of the Sun when
bombarded by Nova's laser.
One of the new
tools of SBSS will be high-performance computing to validate and certify
the safety, reliability, and performance of nuclear weapons in the
absence of nuclear testing. This will require a ten-thousand fold
increase in computing power. Another major SBSS thrust will be the use
of experimental facilities such as the
Los Alamos Neutron Science
Center to probe materials with beams of neutrons, developing a new
understanding of the behavior of materials as they age. |
Few applications of defense technology are as revolutionary as the
successful integration of information systems, flight vehicle design and
control, aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, sensors, and computers
represented by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAVs have applications
in a wide range of military missions, including high-risk missions such
as suppressing enemy air defenses and assessing bomb damage, and those
requiring long endurance such as reconnaissance and communications relay.
p.63.JPGInformation is
power. The Administration's goals is to continue advances in
reconnaissance and information technology to support military
operations. A Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle flies above the aircraft
carrier USS Carl Vinson in a simulated Navy aerial reconnaissance
flight. For example, the Predator - a medium altitude, long endurance UAV - has seen operational use in Bosnia while still in the prototype stage. The submarine and special forces communities recently completed a very successful demonstration with the Predator, linking submarines into the larger battlefield command and control system. This demonstration, conducted with Navy SEALs off San Clemente Island, California in June 1996, had the Navy attack submarine USS CHICAGO take control of a Predator UAV from a range of about 100 miles while submerged at periscope depth. In this scenario, a special forces team would conduct its ingress and egress while the orbiting Predator monitored for hostile forces, relaying its observations back instantaneously. In effect, the Predator extended the sub's periscope from 15 feet to 15,000 feet, leading some in the submarine community to comment that "this is the most exciting thing that has happened in submarine warfare since the nuclear reactor." |
The Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) program is the
Administration's approach to capturing and harnessing innovation for
military use rapidly and at a reduced cost. ACTDs are desinged to
foster an alliance directly between the technologists and the
operational users, eliminating barriers that can crop up between the
two. Representatives of the forces, including the Joint Staff, the
Joint Requirements Oversight Council, and the Commanders of Unified and
Specified Commands, play a direct role in the selection and management
of the ACTDs. |
Security for plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) - essential
ingredients of nuclear weapons - is improving in the former Soviet Union
as a result of ongoing cooperation between Russian and American
scientists. With enough of either of these materials in hand, many
nations and even some terrorist groups could potentially make a crude
nuclear weapon. A soda-can sized block of plutonium weighing only a few
kilograms is potentially enough for a nuclear bomb. Thus, nothing is
more vital to United States security than ensuring that these materials
do not fall into the wrong hands.
p.65.JPGMajor
contributions to U.S. security result from enhancing the
security of nuclear material in the states of the former Soviet Union
through the Cooperative Threat Reduction program (also called the
Nunn-Lugar program). Shown here is the Fresh Fuel Storage Building at
the Sosny Research Center in Minsk, Belarus before and after security
enhancements in October 1996.
Today at this
site, security for the materials is greatly improved. All doors and
windows into buildings containing weapons grade nuclear materials
have
been sealed or alarmed. The front entry doors to these buildings are now
accessible only through turnstiles equipped with electronically
activated locking mechanisms. In addition, these buildings now have
entry control systems that use secure card systems, personal
identification numbers, and administrative controls. If an intruder or
unauthorized person attempts to enter restricted areas through a fence,
gate or door, an alarm will be triggered and transmitted to the central
alarm station. In short, today it would be impossible to steal these
controlled materials without detection and response.
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To meet the growing challenge of terrorist threats, the Administration
is drawing on science and technology resources across the Federal
government. Individual agencies develop counterterrorism technologies in
pursuit of their respective missions, and an interagency body - the
Technical Support Working Group - identifies needs, seeks common
approaches, and coordinates the development of new technologies to
counter terrorism.
Additional
projects under way include research and development of countermeasures
to disable large vehicle (van, panel truck, or tractor-trailer) bombs;
chemical detection and protective equipment for police, fire, and rescue
personnel, and improved forensic tools for DNA and fingerprint recovery.
p.67.JPGAs new terrorist threats develop, new countermeasures must be developed as well. This explosive ordnance disposal suit, developed jointly by the interagency Technical Support Working Group and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, protects against hazardous chemical or biological agents as well as blast effects. |
The United States and the international community face the increasingly
pressing challenge of managing the flow of nuclear materials from cradle
to grave. Building on our work in the handling and disposition of
nuclear weapon materials, both at home and with the states of the former
Soviet Union, we must address all sources of nuclear materials, from
power plants to dismantled nuclear weapons. |
Today, an estimated 80 to 110 million landmines remain in places that
were once sites of conflict, killing and maiming more than 25,000
individuals per year. In addition to their costs in terms of human
suffering, landmines obstruct economic development programs and keep
refugees from returning to their homelands. Entire regions are denied
basic services because repairs to infrastructure are impeded,
humanitarian aid shipments are disrupted, and societies are thrown into
chaos. The vast majority of these landmines remain active for decades,
leaving a deadly legacy of conflicts that have long since ceased. |
Under the leadership of Vice President Gore, the United States is cooperating with South Africa in science and technology for mutual gain. Through our science and technology relationship, we are helping the new South Africa achieve its development goals of an adequate food supply, access to basic health care for all, and a stronger science and technology base. The United States is meeting its foreign policy objectives of building a stronger, more stable, and prosperous South Africa, which can serve as a foundation for democracy in the region. Moreover, science and technology cooperation will allow U.S. scientists to access important scientific data and will expand markets in South Africa for U.S. technologies by promoting joint technology development and creating a technologically literate South African workforce. To achieve these goals, the U.S. government has set up joint programs in climate research, biomedical research, teacher training, agricultural technology, and basic sciences. The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute for Standards and Technology has also initiated a cooperative program in standards and metrology, which is critical to opening South African markets to U.S. high-tech products. Another example is the collaboration between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency and the South African Weather Bureau to track the climate phenomenon known as El Nino. This collaboration has already enabled scientists to predict drought up to a year in advance, allowing farmers to plant crops that will survive dry conditions, thereby assuring reliable food production and stable rural economies. Predicting El Nino has important health implications, as well, because the heavy rains associated with it can lead to outbreaks of malaria. Finally, the training component of the joint program will create a new generation of South African climatologists. |
On May 6, 1995, the U.S. Embassy in Zaire learned that Kikwit, an area
about 350 miles from Kinshasa, was suffering an outbreak of an unusual
hemorrhagic fever that had taken the lives of two Italian nuns. Several
days later, researchers at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention's (CDC) bio-safety level-four laboratory in
Atlanta, Georgia, confirmed that the mysterious outbreak was caused by
the deadly Ebola virus. First recognized in 19 76 during parallel
outbreaks in the Sudan and Zaire, Ebola has no known treatment or cure.
Before the Kikwit outbreak had run its course, 249 people died, nearly
one quarter of them health care workers.
p.72.JPGIdentifying a
deadly disease at its earliest stages is critical to preventing
an epidemic. The United States is making worldwide infectious disease
detection and control a national priority. A scientist at the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention Maximum Containment Laboratory
processes human samples from an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in
Kikwit, Zaire.
The ability to
identify a disease at its earliest stages is critical to preventing an
epidemic. Only four highly secure facilities (one in France, one in
South Africa, and the U.S. high-containment laboratories at the CDC in
Atlanta, Georgia and at the U.S. Army Medical Research
Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Ft. Detrick,
Maryland), are equipped to identify the virus. This means that an
outbreak can fester for months before it is recognized, the probable
cause pinpointed, and samples are sent for testing and identification.
This was precisely the situation in Kikwit, where the first Ebola case
probably occurred as early as December 1994 but did not come to the
attention of the international community until five months later.
p.73.JPGThis view of an
Ebola virus cluster is from a negative stain electron
micrograph, computer-processed image.
At the same time, researchers report rapid progress in understanding the
course of the disease, and its molecular nature. In addition, a new skin
test developed by CDC scientists offers a safe way to send skin samples
from remote areas for identification in the high-security labs in the
United States, France, and South Africa. Researchers are also exploring
modes of transmission, including whether airborne droplets can spread
the infection, and are evaluating prospects for a vaccine. Scientists at
the Department of Defense have developed animal models of Ebola
infection for use in evaluating experimental therapies. National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases scientists are ass
isting them with the identification of experimental drugs to test.
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SELECTED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ACCOMPLISHMENTS
A STRONGER DEFENSE
ARMS CONTROL AND NONPROLIFERATION
GLOBAL STABILITY AND PROSPERITY
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