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MILITARY APPLICATIONS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY : CHALLENGES FOR ARMS

CONTROL (by David HAY-EDIE, IPB Consulta nt)

Dr Jurgen Altma nn,( Professor o f Expe rime nta l Physics, University o f Dortmund,

Germany)

The Geneva Forum, 28 Novem ber, 2007

Dr Altmann g ave an o verview of the po tentially da nge rous milita ry ap plicat ions of

current p rog ress in nanotechnology resea rch and the c onseq uent need to

de velop new a rms control arrang eme nts. A tec hnologica l revolution is on the

horizon, brought ab out b y the prospe c t of eng ineering a t the sub-microsc op ic level

of the atom . While no t imme d iately imminent, the first full ap plicat ions of the new

tec hnology could bec ome rea lity in one o r two de c ad es. Howe ver, alrea dy

miniaturisat ion is ga thering pa ce. The ne w tec hnology is ba sed on ve ry lightw eight,

and formidably strong, materials such as carbon.

While most of the resea rch into m ilitary applica tions of na notec hnolog y is ta king

p lac e in the US, mo st o the r ma jor countries have som e such resea rch. It is in the

interests of the US, although so far ahea d , to a gree on inte rna tiona l co nstraints since

even assymetrical threa ts to the US from de veloping c ountries wo uld be

destabilizing.

Dr Altma nn stressed tha t the re a re a va riety of p ositive p otent ia l bene fits from

nanotec hno logy o utside the milita ry sphere. The m ost obvious is me d ica l, in

mic rosurgery and in figh ting aga inst d isea ses suc h as cancer. Som e o f the b ene fits

will be to imp rove huma n physic al pe rformanc e. Muc h of this will com e from micro-

rob ots microscop ic ma chines which will be plac ed in the blood strea m. These

micro-rob ots are also one of the ma in po tential milita ry de velopm ents.

Dr Altmann d esc ribed a wide variety o f milita ry ap plicat ions. Among st those he c ited

were: microscop ic self destruc t rob ots that , inserted into enem y wea po ns or

informa tion tec hnolog y, could neutralize o r destroy them ; minia ture missiles ab out 30

c m long, that c ould be carried in wom en s hand ba gs; tiny self-rep licat ing

de struc tive ma chines; microscop ic a gents for insertion into enem y bo d ies and

brains tha t w ould turn those pe rsons, eg soldiers, into rob ots cont rollab le for military

purposes; miniature lasers c apab le of destroying sa tellites; and miniature m ilita ry

sa tellites. The potent ial for te rrorist, a s we ll as convent ional m ilitary, ap p licat ion isobvious.

It w ill be a complex task to d evise the right sort of a rms control arrang ements to meet

these threats. Certa in existing t rea ties, which a lrea dy have rud imentary p rovisions on

nano tec hnology, co uld b e deve lop ed further, through eg Final Sta tem ents in

Review C onfe renc es. Suc h trea ties include the Biolog ica l Weapons Convention

(BWC) and the Chemica l Weapons Convention (CWC). The Conventiona l Forces in

Europe (CFE) Trea ty c ould a lso b e adapted .

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Som e of these threa ts, in Dr Altmanns view, req uire out right b ans (in a simila r manner

to spa ce w ea po ns), or morato ria. One prob lem is tha t the bo unda ries are b lurred

betw een the sc iences invo lved physic s, biology a nd chem istry. The op tion of a

com prehe nsive trea ty wo uld run into such prob lems. Som e of the rationa le will be

preventive arms control , ie b anning milita ry ap plicat ions be fore they lea ve the

resea rch sta ge . Som e Trea ty mo dels exist, eg t he Inhumane Wea pons Convent ion s

ban o n certa in laser wea pons, the Test ban Trea ty, the Landmines Trea ty and the

(de func t) ABM Trea ty. Miniaturisat ion ma kes treaty verifica tion mo re d ifficult, and

c ould me an tha t verificat ion nee ds to b e more intrusive another potential problem.

It ma y be more difficult to a chieve transpa renc y.

Aside from the m ilita ry threa ts of na notec hnology, Dr Altmann a dd ed tha t there are

fea rs that the c rea tion of self-rep lica ting rob ots could run amo k. These m ac hines

could turn aga inst the ir ma sters, take o ver, and destroy the e arth. Sc ience Fict ion

could c om e true. Moreove r, there a re many ethic al rea sons to op po se a va riety of

po tential develop ments of nanotec hnology. Tam pe ring with human ge nes and

orga nisms ca n e asily b e used for ev il purpo ses.

There wa s a live ly Question-And-Answe r session a fte r Dr Altmann s ta lk. Amo ngst the

points ra ised we re the fo llow ing: the immed iate p riority is to raise pub lic a wa rene ss

of the threa ts - Dr Altma nn is one o f the very few in this field ; an early ban c ould b e

ac hieved (on strong ethical ground s) on any ap plic ation that c ould involve the

physica l and menta l ma nipulat ion of human b eings, and d elibe rate killing o f humans

by c ontrolled ma c hines; a UN Review Pane l could b e set up , to help raise a wa reness

and propose w ays ahea d; mo re sc ientists could be encourag ed to eng ag e

themselves in this and simila r arms cont rol/ d isarma me nt fields the re is a lac k of

interplay betw een the releva nt sc ientists and the p olitica l lea de rs, politica l

rep resenta tives, c ivil soc iety institutions and burea uc ra ts involved .

A repo rt by Dr Altmann o n this topic can b e d ownload ed at:

http://www.bundesstiftung-friedensforschung.de/pdf-docs/b erichtaltmann.pdf.