Military Tech

Sections of The Devil's Highway dealing with military technology were probably the most fun to write cause I just made 'em up.

The late, great Michael Crichton said he would make up all the incredible technology first — in books like Congo and Jurassic Park — and then do the research to back up his ideas. I kind of took the same approach.

The JTAC/SLAS system, the Peacekeepers, New Normal Town and the Jericho project (if this list doesn't make sense, read the book and all will be clear) are fictional — as far as I know — but based on real technology.

JTAC/SLAS

So, let's start with JTAC and SLAS. Joint Terminal Attack Controllers are highly trained individual who direct air support from the ground. Specific Light Air Support, however, is something that at this time resides only in my head and the pages of the novel. It was inspired by the increase use of drones, or Unmanned Air Vehicles, particularly in recent actions undertaken by the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan. The video below is a simulation of a UCAV firing hellfire missles - just like I describe in the novel, except their on-the-ground guidance system isn't quite as sophisticated as I imagined...

Peacekeepers

Obviously the Peacekeepers are not real, but take a look at this page from P.W. Singer's Wired for War and tell me that we're not heading toward something like them. This page is a really impressive collection of the kind of work that's going into robotics right now, and it doesn't take a huge leap to imagine the Peacekeeper become a reality.

New Normal Town

In the Devil's Highway New Normal Town is a top secret training facility built by Hollywood set designers on the Goldwater Range. It's meant to simulate middle-town America and train troops in case of civil insurrection on U.S. soil.

Fearing negative press about such training, it was built in a remote desert location and its existence has remained classified. NNT is loosely based on a real facility, Urban Target Complex (R-2301-West), at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. Among the Marines it's known as Yodaville. My imagination allowed me to create my fictional facility with a slightly larger budget. Where Yodaville's buildings are comprised of shipping containers, NNT is a full-on Hollywood-style designed town.

And here's a bit of trivia: in early drafts I had NNT being designed by Catherine Hardwicke, who directed such movies as Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown and Twilight. Why her? She has also worked as a production designer and did a great video tour of the set she designed in Arizona for the George Clooney film Three Kings (which is offhandedly referenced in the book).

Jericho

To the best of my knowledge, the Jericho weapon as featured in The Devil's Highway doesn't exist, but the electromagnetic pulse cannon is a technology that has been looked at by the military and law enforcement. It can, apparently, fire a pulse of electromagnetic energy that will disable microprocessors. Don't believe me, watch the video: