Imagined futures can expose useful questions about real military change. Science fiction can inspire new concepts and test assumptions, although it is a poor prediction machine. Deadlock provides a shared setting for examining technology, force design, and the risks of pursuing fashionable ideas. Radar and heat rays are set against the Zumwalt class and Littoral Combat Ship to show why inspiration still needs historical and technical scrutiny.
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Using science fiction to test naval ideas
Battlestar Galactica Deadlock tests whether science fiction can sharpen thinking about future naval problems.