Computers and the Military

Overview From the dawn of time, war has driven technology to new boundaries. The Romans created new roads throughout Europe to facilitate the movement of troops; two thousand years later the United States created the interstate highway system in part to allow the military to move quickly from one area of the country to another. Today's modern military relies on smart bombs, global positioning devices, and secure networks to coordinate military activities that achieve its goals with a minimum of bloodshed. Follow the links below to learn more about computers and the military.

General Information ARPANET was the predecessor of today's Internet. Read a definition of ARPANET here and a history of ARPANET here. Visit DefenseLINK, the official Web site of the US Department of Defense at this link. Read an article about the military's role in computer research here. Information about technology relating to air defense can be found here.

Specific Technologies

  • Apache helicopters are some of the most technologically advanced helicopters in use today. Read about these "flying tanks" at this link.
  • Learn more about the Force 21 Battle Command Brigade and Below technology here.
  • GPS technology is an integral part of modern military strategy. Find out how GPS works at this link. Read United States Global Positioning System Policy here.
  • The US Army and Raytheon are working on the Land Warrior project--arms and high-tech equipment designed for use by individual soldiers. Read about it at this link.
  • The Department of Defense Modeling and Simulation office manages and coordinates modeling and simulation efforts from various organizations. Check out its Web site here.
  • Read an article about what it's like to use an F-16 fighter simulator at this link.
  • The US Military's classified Project PX created the first general use computer ever invented, the ENIAC. See pictures and read about the ENIAC at this link.
  • The Army's first digitized division, the 4th Infantry Division, is described in detail at this link.
  • Read about how one hacker managed to crack the security protecting SIPRNET, the Department of Defense's secure network, in this Wired article.

DCGS Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) is an information-intensive computer-based system that is helping the military share enormous amounts of information "live".  Read about it at www.defense-update.com/products/d/dcgs.htm. Ratheon is working with the military on one such project. The article "What is "DCGS-A?" discusses a specific DCGS used by the Army.

Additional Links Interested in playing flight simulator games similar to those the US Air Force uses to train its pilots? Check out two of the latest and greatest flight simulators at this link and at this link. The US Military employs thousands of technology workers. Read job descriptions here.