What will capture the fascination of future generation of military equipment fans?

[shin_getter]

A good number of boys seems to be naturally attracted to military matters, and the list of vehicles that gets added to warthunder highlights what has been most attractive in the past generation.

However, military technology itself is changing. Robotic, highly networked combatants is becoming more and more important. Many important features of such systems such as cost effectiveness, sensor performance, jam-resistance and such is much less intuitive and thus attract far less interest.

As such, it is unclear what will future generations latch on? Will they focus on old and relatively less important pieces of equipment or will the new generation naturalize into new conceptualization of warfare and find new things to fandom over? Will some piece of media or game that will facilitate this transformation, or would unpopular technology always be viewed with the same apathy as landmine design?

 

[GTX]

A good number of boys

and girls.

 

[VishnuOsiris]

People are people. They will latch onto future technology for the same intangible reasons that you and I do.

Many important features of such systems such as cost effectiveness, sensor performance, jam-resistance and such is much less intuitive and thus attract far less interest.

Nah. I like all of it.

 

[uk 75]

Judging by the range of interests among us oldies on this site I reckon you can find a fan of pretty much anything amongst both young and old.

 

[Archibald]

As long as there are planes and spacecraft, I'll be interested by something - anything (albeit drones are boring and supremely ugly, altogether)

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[shin_getter]

Airplanes would probably still draw attention, but popular conceptualization of their use would probability become even more detached from reality as networked forms of combat becomes even more important.

Part of me think that actual space warfare assets would be quite disappointing to most since none of it is going to be "ship-like" and operate on time and distance scales that is hard for imagination. With no stealth in space, patrolling is kinda pointless and fights can be silo to silo as well.

The thing that I'm wondering about in the nearest term is who will the the first to attempt to make drones into a fun part of combat video games as opposed to annoying punishment mechanic that exists only for lip service to realism. The other thing is whether will there be successful stories that tie drone technology with heroism to capture the imagination. It would be interesting in what kind for framing is necessary for the above to happen.

That said, was there ever successful stories about artillerymen?

 

[Yellow Palace]

That said, was there ever successful stories about artillerymen?

Technically they were sailors, but the story of the siege of Ladysmith and the origins of the Field Gun Race probably fits the bill.

 

[bennyp]

there will be a natural selection at work; as abstractions increasingly rule our fortunes, only those who appreciate the new fitness will succeed.

works of expression like illustrations, movies, and video games are substitutions created to satisfy an existing aspiration, they do not create aspiration on their own. only real results do that.

 

[VishnuOsiris]

there will be a natural selection at work; as abstractions increasingly rule our fortunes, only those who appreciate the new fitness will succeed.

works of expression like illustrations, movies, and video games are substitutions created to satisfy an existing aspiration, they do not create aspiration on their own. only real results do that.

Academia or Terminator?

 

[publiusr]

As long as there are planes and spacecraft, I'll be interested by something - anything (albeit drones are boring and supremely ugly, altogether)

I think there is a danger of lack of interest in youths towards aerospace.

Twinjets just don’t inspire the way Super-Connies did.

Frugality is the #1 enemy of imagination.

Steampunk at least brought back some fanciful designs of the past when no one really knew what an airplane was supposed to look like.

Atompunk isn’t quite as popular—or you’d see more of these:

Rockets Of Unusual Shape: Part 1 – The Unwanted Blog

My parents lived in Inglenook, very near to Birmingham’s airport. They would take me to see the many types of planes then.

No internet, so it was special. No batteries or screen to worry about breaking. Books let you read for a bit…so you can put it down and let your mind wander—the polar opposite of today’s sensory overload.

I had three months off in summer, my Dad six weeks of paid vacation (L&N Railroad man—I still remember telegraph poles).

Things are more special when rare.

In the 80s-90’s, I felt progress ten more than today.

That makes no sense in that rocketry has advanced…but hobby and toy shelves have MMA/wrestling and cars out the yin/yang.

True, you can get 3D prints, but seeing something in a store window is a way to let youths be aware of space designs. I think each playground needs an old airplane cockpit for kids to play in. No lights—all imagination powered.

Computer games, increasingly hostile politics—all wonder-killers.

I feel a falling away.

 

[SspewixzzZ]

I think we should remain confident... Almost every generation has been labeled as the ‘lost generation,’ yet civilization continues to move forward.
Indeed, as you mentioned, today's internet suffers from information overload, yet it also interconnects knowledge in unprecedented ways. Take for instance the massive communities of military simulation enthusiasts (games like War Thunder, Squad, for better or worse) that would have been unimaginable in early days; or those strange aircraft videos with noisy background music that attract millions of views - they objectively disseminate basic military technological literacy. Consider that historically, most people would have gone their entire lives without knowing these instruments of defense or destruction.


I'm really not good at English, so I used AI translation. If my expression is strange, I didn't mean to, sorry