The era of the super soldier approaches

FULLER VERSION OF MY TIMES STORY TODAY: China’s race to produce the super soldier, a genetically-perfected warrior aided by advanced bionic technologies has raised new alarms in the West over Beijing’s plans for future warfare. The concept of man and machine working more intimately together has been around for some time. The US army research laboratory envisages robots being capable of recognising human emotions. However, according to America’s top intelligence chief this week , the Chinese are going several steps further with their ambitions for the People’s Liberation Army. “US intelligence shows that China has even conducted human testing on members of the People’s Liberation Army in hope of developing soldiers with biologically enhanced capabilities,” John Ratcliffe, director of US national intelligence, wrote in the Wall Street Journal. The US spy chief was thought to be referring to advanced medical technology which can manipulate genes to enhance human performance. While the process, called CRISPR, has huge potential for correcting genetic defects, using genome-editing to create a super soldier veers more towards science fiction. Mr Ratcliffe did not spell out exactly what he thought the Chinese experiments involved. However, China is known to be engaged in multiple experiments to boost the efficiency of soldiers in battle. The same yearning for the perfect warrior is evident in the US. There is no programme for genetic engineering but the search for an army of Captain America super heroes, along the lines of the Marvel comic books , is no longer just fiction. In China trials have been carried out with PLA soldiers wearing a special carbon fibre outer casing like an armoured suit called an exoskeleton which reduces the physical strain endured by the body in high-exertion environments, such as warfare. The first exoskeleton systems were delivered last month by the state-owned China aerospace science and industry corporation, a key defence enterprise. China’s exoskeleton covering, weighing about four kilograms, can save 5-10 per cent of a soldier’s energy spent walking, climbing and carrying heavy equipment. It suggests it will be used by Chinese border troops operating in the Himalayas, Iane’s Defence Weekly said. The Pentagon is also researching commercial exoskeleton technologies for military use, and developing ways of improving the interface between human and robot. US army research is underway into creating helmets that stimulate the brain to learn skills more rapidly and to relay the thoughts of a soldier via brain signals. More than $6 million has been allocated for this mind-reading technology. This week it was announced that the French army has been given permission to develop bionic soldiers, using microchip implants to boost brain power and pills to reduce stress and pain. Attempts by countries to boost performance in warfare have had a chequered and controversial history. Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s became known as the pharmaceutical war because of the huge over-use of amphetamines, steroids and other drugs to keep combat troops and bomber pilots awake and alert. In the UK the Ministry of Defence stockpiled thousands of Modafinil pills before the Iraq war in 2003 in case it was needed to enhance the physical and mental performance of the troops. But the pills were never distributed.