Tom Clancy's EndWar: The Weapons of the World War III

"Clancy-proofing." This is the process that every would-be high-tech geopolitical action thriller must go through before it gets stamped with the official Tom Clancy license. This means that every weapon in the game must be accurate, down to stopping power and explosion radius. Now comes the scary part. The future weapons of massive destruction that litter the battlefields of EndWar and fuel the fictional World War III have also been Clancy-proofed. Though these harbingers of Armageddon don't exist today, they are based on existing research and prototype technology. Fear the future.

To understand EndWar, you must first look at the events that led to this plausible, bleak future, as well as the current technology and its potential for military use. In this Tom Clancy universe, a 2016 nuclear war in the Middle East crippled the world's supply of oil and killed more than 20 million people in five hours. In 2017's state of fear, the United States and the European Union develop a joint missile shield. It has a 100-percent interception rate using advanced rocket, laser, and targeting systems. Russia develops its own missile shield using similar technology in 2020, and intercontinental ballistic missiles are rendered useless among the remaining global powers.

As a result, World War III is fought not with missiles but with armies, each using their own technological advances to wrest as much of the Earth's remaining resources as possible. With the missile shield in place, ground-based armies fight for satellite uplinks. When controlled, these uplinks can be overridden to create a hole in the missile shield, allowing for air support, electromagnetic attacks, and orbital strikes. Below, we look at technology today and how it evolved into the weapons of tomorrow in Tom Clancy's EndWar.

Tactical High Energy Lasers

Today: Several current projects utilize laser technology to intercept rockets, missiles, and even single artillery shells. Most notable is the joint US-Israeli Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL), which tested well against rockets and artillery. It successfully intercepted and destroyed three airborne mortars before they hit the ground. Unfortunately, new advances, as well as heat shielding of rockets and artillery, have decreased the effectiveness of THEL; thus, the project was discontinued. In a separate project, several Boeing 747s have been outfitted with airborne lasers. Using sophisticated tracking technology, the airborne laser can rapidly heat the fuel tanks of ICBMs, causing an explosion from the inside of the target and catastrophic failure.

Tomorrow: A small research team in France discovers a breakthrough in laser technology that easily outclasses all previous laser-based weaponry. The solid-state lasers are mounted on European Federation Enforcer Corps (EFEC) vehicles and are as effective as traditional ballistic weaponry. The most powerful weapon in the EFEC arsenal is the laser satellite, a revolutionary directed-energy weapon. It utilizes an ultrapowerful chemical laser and is fired from orbit, capable of destroying all units within the considerable blast radius.

Powered Exoskeletons

Today: Utah-based Sarcos is already several years into a powered exoskeleton project that aims to help US troops move faster, jump farther, and lift tremendous payloads. In one recent video, a soldier was shown on a weight machine doing pull-downs of 200 pounds. He stopped not because he was tired but because he was bored. The suit is powered by a single engine, holds fuel for 24 hours of operation, and weighs about 150 pounds.

Tomorrow: The United States first employed powered exoskeletons in 2012, though they were reserved mostly for heavy lifting in airbases, as well as deemed too heavy and loud for combat. In 2015, the US developed nuclear fuel cells that were capable of running a powered exoskeleton for 5,000 hours before its reactant needed replacing. By the time that conflict erupted in 2020, the JSF employed the Assault Powered Exoskeleton 1 Advanced 2. JSF infantry are armed with the APE1A2 and the M268 SAW heavy machine gun. The JSF is the world's first combat unit to use powered exoskeletons.

Microwave Active Denial Systems

Today: Active Denial Systems (ADS) are currently being researched for deployment in Iraq by the US military, as well as domestically as a crowd-control device. The directed-energy weapon fires a microwave beam that excites water molecules in the skin, which is the same technology used to make microwave popcorn. Relatively low levels of this attack are said to feel like a hot light bulb touching your skin, and early tests show ADS to be a very effective nonlethal attack.

Tomorrow: As the United States began to focus more on homeland security in 2017, the European Federation emerged as world police and developed nonlethal technology, such as ADS, to be used in crowd-control situations. This technology has also proved fruitful on the battlefield.

Microwave upgrades are available to EFEC tanks and transports as antipersonnel weapons; however, these attacks are dialed up to boil troops alive. The high-powered microwave-directed-energy weapon is dialed up to lethal levels and also causes incendiary damage. This weapon is excellent against enemy riflemen units and engineer units.

Kinetic Bombardment

Today: Orbital kinetic bombardment was first conceptualized during the Cold War as an alternative to nuclear attack. The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks II in the 1970s curtailed the development of orbital-based nuclear weaponry, but this did not exclude the giant tungsten rods that could be fired from space. The damage from such a strike is believed to be comparable to a small nuclear weapon. It is believed the rods would be able to hit a target anywhere in the world within 45 minutes. The weapons are given the nickname: "Rods from God."

Tomorrow: The United States Joint Strike Force successfully launches a kinetic strike satellite. It is armed with several high-density tungsten rods. When fired, they are assisted by rockets for guidance toward a ground-based target. They travel at orbital speeds--about six miles per second--and the ensuing impact is capable of total destruction within the blast radius. The kinetic strike is the most powerful weapon available to the JSF. With multiple satellites in orbit, the kinetic strike is capable of hitting its targets within seconds of launch.

Battlefield Robots

Today: A variety of unmanned aerial vehicles are already employed by militaries around the world. The United States uses, for example, the MQ-Predator, a remote-controlled aircraft armed with a pair of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. In addition to UAVs, several ground-based robots are used to disarm explosives or act as sentries.

Tomorrow: Both the JSF and EFEC utilize UAVs and battle drones in combat. Though they are capable of being controlled remotely by human operators, these smart robots can act autonomously. Command craft are able to deploy defense drones to surround their perimeter or order them to perform reconnaissance or even attack enemy troops. Though not as powerful as traditional units, unmanned drones have proved invaluable at gathering information that influences command strategy without sacrificing an infantry, armored, or airborne unit.