Relativity and Military Technological Advancement

With the United States military leading the way with numerous technological advancements and applications, many scientific concepts are put to the test. Of these concepts and theories, Albert Einstein's General and Special Theories of Relativity have huge impacts on military equipment. The importance of acknowledging and implementing these theories within the military is very important, not only for military superiority, but also because they affect, or will one day affect, the lives of millions of civilian personnel with their personal gadgetry, such as cell phones and personal laptops. The Theories of Relativity heavily influence the operation of guided missile systems and exceedingly fast aircraft. Without taking time dilation into consideration, our military would not have been able to make the immense advancements in technology and equipment that they recently have.

When discussing the latest and greatest military weaponry, guided missiles often find their way into the conversation. With so much potential and so little risk, these missiles are becoming the preferred method of attack throughout the military. Firstly, they are extremely safe, resulting in very few, if any, friendly casualties. Secondly, guided missiles have many different variations, some of which allow their operators to be literally on the other side of the globe (Precision-Guided Munition). With Global Positioning Systems (GPS) integrated within these missiles, they can be controlled and directed straight for a target, just about anywhere on earth. In addition, there are many benefits of GPS guided missiles, including not being affected by poor visibility. However, there is also a lot of risk tied with sending an explosive through the sky, so the onboard GPS systems must be calibrated to be extremely precise. This is accomplished by taking the time-dilation effects on the GPS satellites into consideration.

Typical GPS satellites obit above the earth at an altitude of roughly sixteen thousand miles. At this altitude, they must have a velocity of roughly eight-and-one-half thousand miles per hour, relative to the earth's surface. According to Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, the time onboard these GPS satellites will pass at a slower rate than the time on earth does. However, the satellite's altitude affects its time dilation even more. As an object experiences more acceleration, its time rate decreases. Therefore, with the satellites in orbit, they experience less gravity than they would on land. This results in an increase in the clock, much more than the decrease that the satellites experience from their velocity. Altogether, the GPS satellites experience quicker time, at about forty-six thousand nanoseconds more than the surface of the earth experiences each day (Davison). This cumulative error builds up over time and leads to huge errors, possibly with the military's GPS guided missiles. This type of error is completely unacceptable in the fact that it may lead to undesired and unintentional casualties, which just happens to be one of the primary reasons for switching to guided missiles as opposed to operating aircraft.

One of the most common examples used when describing or teaching the Theories of Relativity is the Twin Paradox. In this scenario, one identical twin stands on the surface of the earth while the other twin flies around the earth, directly above the other. At the exact instant the twin inside the airplane passes the other twin, they both begin timing each other with identical timekeepers. However, interestingly, when the one twin fully orbits the earth and returns to the original position, his clock has not passed as much as the twin's clock on earth (Hawking 34). This is a result of Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity. As negligible as the difference in their clocks may have been, recent aircraft technology has really pushed the limits, reaching speeds up to Mach 10. At these speeds, these hypersonic vehicles most definitely experience a different time rate of change than found on the earth's surface. Currently, the aeronautical and aerospace fields are expanding and developing technology that highly surpasses technology from only a couple decades ago.

Aircraft technology has been improving at remarkable rates. Developed as early as the 1950s, Lockheed's U-2 reconnaissance plane is still in use today and is capable of operating at altitudes exceeding seventy thousand feet. The SR-71 broke the world speed record of over two thousand miles per hour back in 1976. It is currently 2010. Just imagining what the latest, classified aircraft are capable of achieving is remarkable. It is rumored that one the latest secret aircraft, dubbed the Aurora, is a reconnaissance aircraft capable of reaching speeds up to Mach 6 (Aurora). Similarly, other types of development aircraft, such as the scramjet, are also capable of achieving near double-digits of Mach speed. Once these technologies are fine-tuned and perfected, the possibility of sending a man or team into low orbit at incredible speeds is very likely. And in these situations, finely tuned and calibrated timekeepers will need to be used, making use of Albert Einstein's Theories of Relativity.

The United States military has really pushed the limits when it comes to weaponry and aircraft. Literally reaching for the skies, the latest aerial vehicles have achieved remarkable speeds and altitudes. Yet, in these conditions, the onboard timekeepers must be very, very accurately calibrated in order to prevent harmful, or even fatal, accidents. Similarly, GPS guided missiles are being used more often today due to their reliability and safety. However, the GPS systems are also carefully calibrated to read the proper time, relative to the earth's surface. These high-tech equipment are very dependent on proper timekeeping, which is possible with the consideration of Albert Einstein's Theories of Relativity.

Works Sited

"Aurora." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 5

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Davison, RC. "The Realities of Einstein's Relativity and Our GPS System." Bright

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Hawking, Stephen. A Brief History of Time. New York: Bantam Books, 1996.

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"Precision-Guided Munition." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia

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"Twin Paradox." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 5

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