Table Of ContentNarendra Kumar
Ambesh Dixit
Nanotechnology
for Defence
Applications
Nanotechnology for Defence Applications
Narendra Kumar • Ambesh Dixit
Nanotechnology for Defence
Applications
Narendra Kumar Ambesh Dixit
Defence Laboratory Jodhpur (DRDO) Department of Physics & Center for Solar
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India Energy Department
Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
ISBN 978-3-030-29879-1 ISBN 978-3-030-29880-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29880-7
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the
editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors
or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims
in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Foreword
I am delighted to write foreword for the book entitled Nanotechnology for Defence
Applications authored by Dr. Narandra Kumar and Dr. Ambesh Dixit. One of the
authors Dr. Narendra Kumar is well known to me for more than a decade while we
worked at Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) in different
capacities. He is well known for his work in the area of Advanced Materials, includ-
ing Nanomaterials for Defence Technologies at DRDO laboratories. Dr. Ambesh
Dixit, an associate professor, is a young faculty at IIT Jodhpur working on funda-
mental and applied aspects of nanotechnology.
At a glance, starting from its title, the book makes a very interesting reading. It
is amazing that authors have correlated the materials of different ages, beginning
from Stone Age to the modern age of advanced materials, to the contemporary
development of defence technologies. They have beautifully introduced a chapter
on the basic and applied aspect of nanotechnology which should help any reader to
understand the emerging area of nanoscience considered to be one among the three
most impacting technologies on society in the present and future. The other two
technologies are information and biotechnologies. Furthermore, blending of these
three technologies has a great impact on mankind starting from their healthcare,
comfort, information, security and defence.
In spite of the scarcity of open literature related to the potential of nanotechnol-
ogy, particularly in defence sectors, the authors have made commendable efforts to
bring together the potential of nanomaterials and nanotechnology, with relevant
illustrations and citations, in diverse strategic areas of defence such as explosives
and propellants, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear i.e. CBRN, camou-
flage and stealth, and light weight military platforms together with empowerment of
soldier. The last chapter provides the futuristic view of defence technologies with
the blending of nano-, bio- and information technologies. It is interesting to note
that authors have described the possible impact of nanotechnology in the respective
areas of defence.
v
vi Foreword
I believe that this book will be of great help not only to the researchers engaged
in the development of defence technologies but also to the policy makers and users
in bringing awareness about the emerging benefits of this wonderful and inescap-
able technology and nurturing the same in their respective domain.
Former Director, UR Rao Satellite Centre, Bengaluru, P. S. Goel
Chairman RAC (DRDO), Dr Raja Ramanna Chair,
National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS)
Bengaluru, India
Preface
The development of mankind, right from the beginning for food, shelter, and com-
fort, was very much dependent on the availability of natural materials in the begin-
ning of the Stone Age and later materials innovated with time. The three big
inventions made by Neolithic Stone Age mankind were fire, wheel, and agriculture.
These inventions followed by the discovery of metals in Bronze and Iron Ages made
a paradigm shift in the lives of human race in terms of their shelters, food, comfort,
and tools for hunting for food and fighting for their dominance and survival. As a
consequence, a new kind of weaponry was evolved. The weapons made out of natu-
ral materials such as wood, bones, and stones were replaced by those made from
metals such as bronze, iron, and steel. Their use continued until the end of medieval
period, i.e. sixteenth century. The invention of gunpowder in the eleventh century
was rediscovered in the eighteenth century as an exotic material leading to the fire-
arm technologies. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, armament technologies
based on gunpowder and other newly developed explosives and propellants added
new strength to the modern weaponries ranging from handheld guns and rifles to
cannons and finally to the present-day guided missiles.
In fact, the twentieth century, particularly post–World War II period, has given
birth to the variety of new materials including high strength and light weight metals
and alloys, polymers, composites, and finally nanomaterials, making revolutionary
impact in all sort of technologies relevant for the health, information and communi-
cation, defence and security, transportation, etc. The realization that materials when
broken down to the nanosize or a size very close to those of few time of atoms or
molecules turns out to be materials of unusual physical and chemical properties. For
example, at nanoscale, an opaque and brittle ceramic becomes transparent and flex-
ible, a nonmagnetic material becomes magnetic, ferromagnetic material becomes
super paramagnetic, non-reactive materials become highly reactive, etc. All these
unique properties are the manifestation of high surface area presiding higher num-
ber of molecules or atoms on the surfaces, quantum confinement, and localized and
discrete energy levels, leading to their impact on variety of technologies governing
the super-health, wealth, and defence of the present generation.
vii
viii Preface
The likely impact of nanotechnology in defence sector covers a broad range of
activities starting from the enhancement of lethality of weapons, secured commu-
nication and surveillance, protection of targets including soldiers, strategic equip-
ments and assets, light weight ground, and naval and aerial platforms. There are
various titles on nanoscience and nanotechnology, emphasizing on the fundamen-
tals and specific applications. However, the potential of nanotechnology, specifi-
cally for defence applications, is not covered in any of these titles. In view of the
evolving potentials of highly interdisciplinary nature of nanotechnology, the pres-
ent book is designed to cover the most of strategic defence domains including its
likely impact in next generation of defence. In the beginning, we have tried to give
a historical perspective about the evolution of weapons, starting from the Stone
Age millions of years ago to the present era, based on the materials in the contem-
porary periods. In the follow-up, the uniqueness of nanomaterials due to small size
is discussed together with the impact on the properties of such materials and their
applications in broad areas of human concerns. The role of nanomaterials and their
uses are discussed in the context of enhancing propellant and explosives charac-
teristics in a controlled way vis-a-vis their bulk counterparts. The impact of nano-
technology is also brought out for the management of deadly chemical, biological,
radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons in terms of detection, protection, and
decontamination. Furthermore, the evolving role of nanotechnology is discussed
towards the signature management of military targets (soldiers, platforms, instal-
lations) through camouflage/stealth in the multispectral electromagnetic and non-
electromagnetic spectral (acoustic) regions. Heavy weight of military platforms,
mostly made from steel, is a big issue in terms of their excessive fuel consump-
tions, speed, portability, as well as heavy armours to protect against ballistic and
blast attacks. Nanomaterials being light in weight bearing a number of functional-
ities are emerging as the material of choice to develop light weight military plat-
forms and their armours. The recent advances in this area are discussed. Soldier is
the most important asset of any military. In the present-day warfare scenario
including the threat from non-state actors, i.e. terrorists, the role of soldier, even
on routine patrol duties, is growing day by day. It is imperative to make soldiers
smart by providing them the advanced technologies. In this regard, we have
brought out several facets of nanotechnology such as body armours, intelligent
textiles capable of generating power from the renewable sources to reduce the
burden of power packs, communication systems, autonomous blending with the
background, etc. Together, we have also attempted to bring out certain nanotech-
nology based options likely to impact futuristic war scenarios.
To facilitate the timely widespread utilization of emerging nanotechnology, it is
essential to provide an overall comprehensive text on nanotechnology in defence in
the open domain. We believe that our present work is a step forward in this direction
and will help researchers as well as policy-makers and users to understand and
exploit the potential of nanomaterials and nanotechnology in diverse areas
of defence. In addition, the book will serve as a reference source in the academia
Preface ix
opting for courses on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology especially in Defence
Sciences. We have made our best efforts to keep the text error-free along with giving
appropriate citations, wherever needed. However, we welcome any shortcomings or
suggestions making further improvements.
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India Narendra Kumar
Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India Ambesh Dixit
Acknowledgement
We are thankful to our colleagues from Academic and Research Institutions for their
suggestions and comments. We are especially grateful to our family members for
their patience and silent support during the course of writing this book. Furthermore,
we express our thanks to Springer, USA, for taking up this project with keen interest
and timely execution to make this publication a reality.
Dr. Narendra Kumar
Dr. Ambesh Dixit
xi
