Target Utopia by Dale Brown Page B

the chip equivalent). The processor could change state roughly 100 million times a second. That was beyond the processing power of a supercomputer in the Cold War.
    Assuming it was anywhere close to a standard size, the chip they had examined would have been several orders of magnitude more powerful than the Ivy Bridge, both in terms of size and speed. Rubeo’s people weren’t entirely sure how much faster—there was just too little to go on—but the technology appeared comparable to that in the nano-UAVs so recently used to wipe out Iran’s nuclear weapons.
    The biggest problem for the chips was the heat they generated; this seemed to have been solved with a rather ingenious and extremely elegant air piping system, where microtunnels were bored into the surface of the aircraft and used to bathe the processors with cooling air. The so-called pipes were thinner than human hair, and webbed in a way so that the structural integrity of the aircraft was not harmed. The discovery of those pipes—Rubeo didn’t mention that he had been the one to spot them—were significant in many ways.
    â€œWhat we’re looking at here is enormous manufacturing ability,” concluded Rubeo. “Even assuming these aircraft are essentially one-offs, hand-built. The skill necessary to create the airframe—let alone the brain that fits into it—is very, very high.”
    â€œSo it’s definitely not Chinese,” concluded Reid.
    â€œI didn’t say that.” Rubeo touched his ear. “It doesn’t fit with the Chinese capabilities that I’m aware of. But that doesn’t mean it’s not Chinese. I have no evidence. I know several companies that could have manufactured the processors. All arein the United States. Including mine,” he added, feeling he ought to make explicit what Reid was probably thinking. “We have a laboratory facility dedicated solely to government work, and it would be capable of producing these chips.”
    â€œBut it didn’t,” said Breanna quickly.
    â€œOur ten-nanometer chips are all accounted for,” said Rubeo.
    â€œThe nano-UAVs?”
    â€œThey were destroyed in Iran,” said Rubeo. “But those use eight nanometer chips. Which you will recall is why they are so absurdly expensive. And my company didn’t create those processors. We believe the CMOS limits no longer justify the technology, and so we’re moving in a different direction. Perhaps incorrectly,” he added.
    â€œWe should check every fab site we can think of,” said Breanna.
    â€œYes.” Rubeo had already made his own discreet inquiries without finding the actual manufacturer. “I would guess, though, that it was somewhere in Asia, maybe even Malaysia. An underutilized facility that has been overhauled with new equipment at much expense.”
    â€œThat could be anywhere,” said Reid.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œSo what are we dealing with?” Reid asked.
    â€œImpossible to tell until we capture one,” said Rubeo. “If they are this sophisticated in chip technology, I can only make guesses about the weapons.”
    â€œTwenty-five-millimeter cannon?” asked Breanna.
    â€œI believe something lighter.”
    â€œThere were no weapons used in this last encounter,” said Reid.
    â€œTrue. Maybe some carry weapons and some don’t. Or they weren’t correctly positioned for attack. Or many other possibilities,” said Rubeo. “But planes were shot down previously, and we have to assume that if they have the base technology, they can weaponize it. The Gen 4 Flighthawks would have carried lasers. And the Gen 4 Flighthawk appears to be an excellent model.”
    He waved his hand for the next slide, which showed an artist’s rendition of the unknown UAV next to a Gen 4 Flighthawk. The Gen 4’s wings were a little longer, its tail a bit stubbier, but the airfoils were very similar. The Gen