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Visit by Mr Peter Sankey OBE (February 2012)
![Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College (DSFC)](javascript:PopupPic("/military/images/petersankey.jpg");)
On the 1st February 2012, Welbeck LVI had the privilege of receiving a lecture from the Director of Strategic Technologies for the MOD, Mr Peter Sankey OBE. Before the lecture started we were given a brief introduction of Mr Sankey’s career telling us how over the years he has been widely involved in nuclear science. Of particular interest was that he had previously been the director for underground testing in Nevada.
The lecture itself was based primarily around the 'future on technology' covering 3 main areas: 'Technical innovation', 'Future technology trends' and 'Keeping our military advantage'
The lecture began with a discussion on the history of the effect of science and technology on warfare. Mr Sankey referred back to the Romans who took existing technology and 'put wheels on it', and the Greeks for their use of fire, which in its age was seen as a somewhat magical concoction, becoming increasingly more violent when water was added to it. Even in the modern age we are constantly applying new technologies to warfare such as GPS, night-vision, and precision guided missiles.
Mr Sankey then went on to speak about nuclear science, stating that it has 'totally changed the way we think about global security'. Whereas in earlier ages warfare was confined to a battlefield, in the modern age weaponry has been developed which can destroy entire cities many thousands of miles away - a thought provoking fact. Keeping to modern weaponry we then went on to discuss a variety of military equipment, including the Astute nuclear attack submarines. These hi-tech vessels house an unbelievable 100km worth of cabling, along with a nuclear reactor of equivalent size to a small industrial reactor which capable of fuelling voyages for up to 3 months long. Furthermore, Mr Sankey also spoke of the Eurofighter Typhoon, a fighter jet whose onboard components make millions of adjustments a second just to keep the jet stable in the air.
In order to highlight the extent of technical innovation in warfare Mr Sankey quoted that modern infantry weaponry is around 'a factor of ten' times better than the weaponry used by soldiers in WW2, a mere 70 years ago - making many students question what warfare might be like 70 years from now.
Mr Sankey also stated that such future technology trends are not only taking place in the military but also in the civil industry, as shown by i-phones, MRI scanners etc adding that some defence totally relies on civilian technology such as GPS surveillance. Though, on the one hand this integration between military technology and civilian technology leads to exciting new developments, it also means that it is available to hostile forces or terrorists. Military technology is no longer always one step ahead.
In terms of future technology we also discussed autonomous warfare (UAV’s), space based ballistic missiles and even more far-flung advancements such as the use of metamaterials for both visual and infra red cloaking, or in sci-fi terminology 'invisibilty'.
We learnt, in total an amount of £435 million is invested by the UK into the MOD's Science and Technology programme, 45% of which goes towards developing the military capability for the 'generation after next'. These developments although partially focused around offensive weaponry, are mainly focused on reducing both the burden and risk on military personnel. One challenge is to reduce the amount a soldier has to carry from around 70kg to 25 kg, and reduce mental stress through a reliance on technology which can relieve the workload of military personnel.
Towards the end of the lecture Mr Sankey demonstrated a substance which has recently been developed by the Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE). The substance could be moulded and ripped apart like play-dough, but when hit it acted like Kevlar. We were shown a video in which the substance was used to line a helmet, which resisted the force of a rifle round. On an interactive level two students were invited to place the substance on there hands and trust it to absorb the impact of the edge of a ruler – thankfully it worked!
Lastly we were shown a video on a development known as 'shadow hand', a robotic hand which will eventually be capable of replicating the skill and agility of a human hand - it even has fingernails! The video told of how such a piece of equipment could have a great affect on reducing the risk to human personnel in situations such as bomb defusing, or the handling of hazardous materials.
On behalf of all the LVI students I would like to express my sincere thanks to Mr Sankey for giving up his time to present an extremely interesting and thought provoking lecture to us.
Matthew Crolla, Nelson 11E
