The kind of military technology only imagined in sci-fi movies like Iron Man and Star Wars could be coming to an international conflict near you sometime in the very near future. As if missiles and nuclear bombs weren’t enough, militaries around the world are currently developing a terrifying range of deadly weapons as well as aircraft that could take warfare into space. Some of it is unconfirmed – like Russia’s supposed mind control guns, which impair the higher cognitive functions of crowds – while some is already in early stages of deployment, like the puke-inducing ‘thunder generators’ now in use against protesters by local police.

Hypersonic Projectiles

Hypersonic weapons fly over five times the speed of sound to not only make them a hell of a lot more powerful, but also evade detection, tracking and attempts to destroy them. Among them is the Electromagnetic Railgun under development by the Office of Naval Research – essentially a flying hypersonic strike that whizzes through the air at around 5,600 miles per hour. It’s capable of traveling up to 100 miles, arrives with virtually zero warning and tears things up about as much as you’d expect. Oh, and it’s also guided. It uses magnetic fields generated by huge amounts of energy to travel.

Though it has cost the Pentagon about $500 million since they first began working on it in 2005, there’s some question as to whether it will ever be implemented due to the sheer expense of it. The military now appears to be more interested in the spiked projectiles than the weapon that fires them, investigating their use in available powder weapons before moving forward on testing the railgun.

Thunder Generators

Thunder generators were first tested as a way to ‘humanely’ scatter birds away from crop fields and other areas, like the landfill seen in the video above. But of course, if it’s capable of generating shock waves that scare birds, it could also be leveled up for crowd control usage on humans. While stunning people from a range of 30 to 100 meters will only create the kind of sonic blast that either makes people run in panic or knocks them off their feet, get closer and it kills. It looks pretty nondescript – just a single barrel that can be mounted on a mobile base – but you can put several of them together for a more powerful effect, and a curved barrel will allow the sonic waves to turn 90-degree corners. The similar LRAD Sound Cannon (Long Range Acoustical Device) looks a like a speaker.

Developed in Israel, it’s now being marketed for military and security applications, and it’s equipped with enough gas to produce around five thousand blasts. It’s just one of many acoustic weapons in use and development by military and police forces, often deployed against protesters like those at the Dakota Access Pipeline in South Dakota. Just a short blast from a typical sonic weapon can make everyone in a crowd spontaneously puke. Unsurprisingly, their use can also lead to health problems like hearing loss and traumatic brain injuries.

‘Smart’ Tracking Bullets

The phrase ‘dodging a bullet’ may seem quaint very soon thanks to tracking technologies that make sure bullets don’t miss their targets. So-called ‘smart bullets’ contain optical sensors to hit moving and evading targets, and even a novice shooter using the system for the first time will almost certainly hit the mark. This DARPA project achieves extreme accuracy at sniper ranges that can’t be achieved with traditional rounds, and the .50 caliber bullets travel at hundreds of miles per hour.

Powered Exoskeletons

Iron Man-style powered exoskeleton suits have plenty of possibilities that aren’t nefarious, like helping medical professionals lift and carry patients more easily, or allowing paralyzed people to walk. But in addition to mobility, they bestow the wearer with an uncanny strength, and several different models are being developed for use by soldiers. One is Lockheed Martin’s FORTIS knee-stress-release device, which uses independent actuators and motors along with a lithium ion battery to let soldiers carry 180 pounds up five flights of stairs without tiring while also preventing knee injuries. DARPA is testing a battery-powered exoskeleton as well, and China and Russia have their own versions, “turning soldiers into Stormtroopers.”

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Future War 8 Terrifying Coming Advancements In Military Technology

Anyone peering into a disused F15 hangar at the Cold War-era Soesterberg airbase in The Netherlands might have spotted this bizarre black structure and imagined that it was some kind of secret, high-tech aircraft project. They would have been half correct. The angular behemoth, with its wing-like appendages, is an imposing sight upon the airstrip as it rolls slowly out of Shelter 610.

But look a little closer. It’s crawling so excruciatingly slowly for a reason. It’s not an aircraft at all – it’s moving on military treads. Secret Operation 610 is both a sculpture and a functional research station for aerospace engineering students at Technical University Delft who are developing ‘no noise, no carbon, just fly’ technologies .

Created by Rietveld Landscape, Secret Operation 610 deliberately mimics the look of science fiction aircraft. The point, essentially, is for it to look a bit scary. “The object revives the mysterious atmosphere of the Cold War and its accompanying terrifying weaponry,” say the designers.

The old runway serves as an ideal test site for state of the art aviation experiments, so this mobile research shelter enables students to become immersed in the atmosphere of the airbase as it rolls around. “The unconventional combination of nature and Cold War history offers an exciting environment for the development of knowledge about nature, technology and aviation.”

In war, innovation can mean the difference between a glorious victory and a world shattering defeat. When research and development departments have the funding of a desperate nation behind them, and are faced with a long and brutal campaign, the ideas that are spawned can turn the tide of battle. It’s inevitable that some of the wilder ideas would later seem ridiculous. Here are 10 of the most extreme, and odd, military weapons created in the 20th century:

(Images via sovietempire, bodston, primeportal, wikipedia)

The brutality of war can be reflected by the means with which it’s fought. Anti tank dogs were a soviet creation, and said to have taken down over 300 German tanks during World War II. Dogs were taught to find food under tanks, and then starved before a battle. They would have bombs strapped to their backs, with levers that would trigger as soon as it hit the underside of a tank. When the lever snapped back, the dogs would explode, destroying the tank. The Germans eventually fought this tactic with flamethrowers, and a couple cases of dogs running amok away from battlefields was enough to cut back the program.

(Images via americainfra, panzerguy_01)

Corkscrew tanks didn’t run on the typical caterpillar type treads, instead propelled by giant corkscrews. Just like an electric screwdriver pulls into a piece of wood, so these treads would cruise along the ground, regardless of terrain. Their travel was a bit erratic, and the tanks had to be too lightweight to be useful in combat.

(Images via fastcompany, foothill)

When it comes to urban fighting, every corner can hide a group of enemy soldiers. Even the slightest advantage can win battles, so various weapons were designed to allow soldiers to see around corners, and fire around them behind the protection of a concrete wall.

(Images via nerdcore, autotrader, sobiratelzvezd, strange vehicles)

The Tsar tank was Russian built with two wheels 27 feet in diameter that pulled a much smaller set of wheels behind. Mounted with large and heavy guns, it was one of the few tanks that didn’t have treads, and was designed to overrun any obstacle. The design was bulky and ill conceived for the reality of battle, and was quickly dropped.

(Images via castlekay, annefrankguide, aerostar)

Barrage balloons were strung up by the hundreds over cities during World War II. Like floating mines, they would make it difficult for low flying enemy aircraft to make devastating bombing runs by threatening to bring them down with their taut wires and incendiary devices.

(Images via darkroasted, mondolithic, cim mcgill)

With the scarcity of metal toward the end of World War II, Project Habbakuk was an attempt to create aircraft carriers out of pykrete, a mixture of ice and wood pulp. Thick enough to withstand enemy fire, and easily repaired, pykrete would enable the construction of large ships with the uses of minimal resources. The war was completed before any of these ships became a reality.

(Images via 5348 Franco, tolka rover, brassdragon, bathead)

It’s surprising a prototype of a bat bomb was ever even made, but it was. The idea was simple: place incendiary explosive devices on Mexican Free-Tailed Bats, lower their temperature inside a bomb so they hibernate in transit, and then release them over an enemy city to roost in the infrastructure below. At a specific time, all the bats would explode in a thousand fiery blazes, igniting fires across the city.

(Images via weirdworm, photo collection, skylighters)

The Goliath tracked mine was a remote controlled anti tank mine that carried nearly 200 pounds of explosives and would be steered toward enemy troop or tank formations and detonated. These mines were created by the Germans and used throughout World War II, on all fronts, and were known as beetle tanks by Allied forces.

(Images via willys mb, fiddlers green, weirdworm)

The flying jeep was created to fulfill a contract to create a lightweight helicopter that could be landed in any terrain. Several prototypes were created but they never went into full production. No matter how good it looked on paper, the flying jeep’s goofy appearance gives a good indication of why such a flimsy hybrid would not do well in the heat of battle.

(Images via royal airfarce, rooksmoor, cracked)

Flying aircraft carriers had a brief stint in the collective imagination of a wartime populace. Much like hoverpacks and flying cars, the idea never came to fruition, only to live on in steampunk style novels and shows. They would be easy to shoot down, consume inordinate amounts of fuel, and had few advantages to counter an extended list of cons.