_Metal Gear Solid_ Series
Background
First developed during the Cold War, “Metal Gear” units are giant bipedal nuclear tanks. In the first episode of the Metal Gear Solid series, Metal Gear REX is developed on Alaska 's Shadow Moses Island . REX is equipped with a rail gun that uses magnetism to fire shells at extremely high velocities. When a nuclear missile is loaded into the rail gun it can be launched without burning any propellant, making it undetectable by enemy radar. Add to this the fact that REX is mobile and the result is a nuclear delivery vehicle that can attack anyplace on Earth from any other place on Earth without fear of detection…or of even technically breaking any international missile treaties.
Metal Gear RAY is introduced in the second episode. After the Shadow Moses incident, plans for Metal Gear are leaked onto the black market by a spy named Revolver Ocelot. The result is a global arms race, with Metal Gear units popping up all over the globe. In response, the Marines construct RAY, an anti-Metal Gear unit that is amphibious and can thus quickly reach any corner of the globe to destroy a Metal Gear that is on the loose. However, Ocelot leads a team of insurgents that captures the prototype RAY and takes it back to The Patriots, the ruling shadow-government in America . The Patriots then mass produce RAY units to guard Arsenal Gear, the newest incarnation of Metal Gear that will serve as the control center for The Patriots. It will have the added benefit of allowing The Patriots to censor digital information, ensuring the continuance of their reign.
Analysis
You really have to wonder if armies aren't trying to accomplish feats like REX's rail gun today. Success could ensure dominance of America as a super power, or, in the hands of terrorists, it could be the end of the world as we know it.
Technology is often a double-edged sword. While REX and RAY are mere tools without sentience, the power these weapons grant to corruptible humans may be more than humans can be trusted to handle properly. How far is too far in the grand scheme of global military strategy?