US Army: Captain America, Space Marines, or the Clone Wars?

Courtesy of Halo Wiki

Recently, DARPA announced a plan to create genetically-modified shock troopers for the United States military.

Let that sink in a moment, pal.

Done?

These new super-troops are projected to run faster than Usain Bolt, go without food and sleep for days, outlift Olympic weightlifters, and possibly regrow lost limbs. Like a damn octopus.  Even more insanely, DARPA hopes they’ll be able to communicate telepathically.  Before you call bullshit, I’ll show this quote from Daily Mail, explaining how the technology works:

Most gene modification techniques involve placing genetically modified DNA inside a virus and injecting it into the human body. The virus then enters human cells, and its modified DNA attaches itself to the human DNA inside those cells.

This project probably won’t be alone; it will likely be combined with other DARPA projects, like the telepathy helmet, bio-monitor, and the widely-publicized exoskeleton.  Their Brain-Machine Interfaces Project has made leaps and bounds, and would add to a soldier’s ability to coordinate all the other nasty toys he’s carrying. CNN has already touted these futuristic soldiers as “Captain America”, and I’m sure the government press releases will love that—who doesn’t love Captain America?

Being all patriotic and shit, courtesy of Marvel.Com

Those who knew me, my Facebook, or my Twitter know that I’m a huge Transhumanist and Futurist, but come on  guys: How many of you see this and think Captain America or Halo, and how many of you are expecting the Clone Wars, or Horus Heresy of Warhammer 40K?

While we’re talking Warhammer, look at DARPA’s Trek Aerospace flyer; it’s basically the Ork Deffkopta. Or the Japanese version of the Warhammer Dreadnought.

There’s too many links and projects to even discuss here. But it’s not the technology that really strikes home: it’s the implications.

What does the United States plan on doing with its Space Marine-esque army? We don’t even have an enemy that can stand up to our good ol’ human one very effectively.  Did we find something on Mars? I’m just kidding. Maybe it’s to squash all those superbly armed Occupy Wall Street Terror Squads, or brave the hazards of space exploration. Who kmows? I’ll leave the speculations on its purpose, and the nefariousness of world governments, to the readers.

But there are other issues that will have to be addressed. Ever read any of The Clans books in Battletech? No? Google it now, it’s amazing. The short version: a social divide and resentment between free-born soldiers and their genetically superior true-born counterparts is going to become a very real problem in our armed forces, and as the technology trickles into civilian usage, our general population. With the much easier and cheaper possibility of cybernetics, you can pretty much assume some fields will turn into schlong-waving contests between the unmodified, the cybernetic, and the genetically engineered.

As these technologies do trickle down into civilian life, how will civilians get them, and pay for them? Will it be only for the wealthy? Will these soldiers and civilians have to sign themselves over to ten and twenty year contracts to employers, just to pay for the modifications needed to compete? Where there’s a will there’s a way, and crime has always paid, regardless of what your parents will tell you. Envision people walking into dingy shops, filthy motel rooms, or being snuck into clinics and hospitals, all looking for some second-hand cybernetics, or some stolen retrovirus re-write, just to keep up with the State of the Art. It will trickle, all the way from the military’s super-soldiers, to faster paper-pushers, to the boys in blue. After that, it’s only logical for crooks and mooks, all looking for that little bit of edge, to give it a shot illegally.

Not a sterile environment; courtesy of istockphoto

I’m not saying Warhammer 40K, or Shadowrun, or Star Wars, is here. But the first Ork or Gamorrean I see, I am out of here.
Waving Stormtrooper picture is courtesy of freestockphotos.biz

 

Josh Snow is a skeptical transhumanist and some-time freelance writer. He does some event coordination and security supervision for the geek community in his area, and would really like it if  you followed him on Twitter @ArkangelWinter