laststandonzombieisland

Cruise missiles, unmanned air vehicles, unmanned underwater vehicles, and other forms of remote control drones are all the rage today. Over the skies of Kandahar and Baghdad today fly remotely operated aircraft that carry smart weapons of their own, ready for use at a moments notice. In the Baltic Sea the German navy has for years used ‘troika’ drones, small radio controlled boats, to sweep minefields without putting sailors at risk. Your modern military thinkers believe that this will be the way of future combat arranged in graceful patterns for the coming century.

However what a lot of people fail to realize is that this space age 21st technology was actually produced in the 19th. In 1898 at Madison Square Garden the uber-genius Nikola Tesla (no relation to the 90’s neo-hair band of the same name) thrilled spectators with a remote controlled boat capable of becoming a warship with very little modification.

Tesla offered his design to the navy then without success— but today maybe they should pay his estate royalties?