SE4113 Combat Systems Engineering IV- Unconventional Weapons

This course extends the coverage of SE3113 (Conventional Weapons) to include unconventional weapons. Topics include: information warfare and weapons (including electronic warfare), directed energy weapons, weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, biological, and radiological), and nonlethal weapons. It introduces the student to both the effects that unconventional weapons can produce as well as the technologies needed by weapons systems to create those effects. It is designed to provide familiarization of the student with critical weapons concepts that are necessary for enlightened examination of both technology development and military planning.

Prerequisite

SE4112

Lecture Hours

3

Lab Hours

2

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Characterize unconventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction. 

• Compare the reasons for and against WMD proliferation by a state actor.

• Describe how the principal nuclear materials are produced.

• Describe the differences in nuclear weapons effects based on type of device and location of explosion.

• Estimate the casualties produced by a nuclear explosion.

• Determine the hazard potential of a specific radiological agent.

• Describe the different classes of chemical weapons and biological weapons.

• Estimate the size of the hazard regions produced by different kinds of chemical and biological weapons.

• Evaluate the utility of different weapon delivery mechanisms for different CBRN threats.

• Describe the different forms of protection and decontamination against CBRN threats.

• Describe the means of producing effects by different nonlethal weapon technologies and the legal and ethical problems of using and/or defending against the use of nonlethal weapons.