Many believe that the United States is "Babylon The Great" who will be destroyed to make way for the antichrists world empire. This article explains the theory and references why. 

Very informative as we approach the time.


Long article with reference points... I will try to summarize a bit

https://truthonlybible.com/2021/07/29/th...f-america/

Quote:The book of Revelation gives more attention to an entity called “Babylon the Great” than to any other single subject

This article will argue that Babylon the Great is the United States of America, and that this identification is definitive and excludes all other possibilities. 

If Babylon the Great were a reference to the rebuilt city of Babylon in Iraq, its name would be no mystery. Even if it were a reference to Rome, the name would not be especially mysterious, since Rome was the great world power of John’s day, and Peter even refers to Rome as “Babylon” in 1 Peter 5:13. Instead, Revelation 17:5 indicates that the name refers to some future entity whose identity was entirely unknown in AD 96, which was therefore represented symbolically—as with other eschatological entities in the book of Revelation. The characterization of the name “Babylon the Great” as a mystery shows that it is consistent with the literal hermeneutic to understand the name as referring to something other than a rebuilt city of Babylon in Iraq.

 Babylon the Great would have to stand for the antichrist’s kingdom or base of power, since the antichrist dominates the world economic system throughout the second half of the tribulation period (Rev 13:16-17) and is the most powerful ruler on earth (Rev 13:7). On the other hand, if Babylon the Great is destroyed at any time before the second coming, and especially if it is destroyed before the midpoint of the tribulation period, it could not be identified with the antichrist’s kingdom, since the antichrist remains in power until Armageddon (cf. Rev 13:5-7). Babylon the Great must refer to some other entity that is even more powerful than the antichrist’s kingdom at the start of the tribulation period. The destruction of this entity is therefore necessary to facilitate the antichrist’s rise to power. A number of reasons will be presented in favor of the latter position.

Thus, Revelation 14:8 is a clear statement of the fall of Babylon the Great before the midpoint of the tribulation period.

According to Revelation 17:16-17, Babylon the Great is destroyed by the antichrist and the ten kings in the European alliance that comprise his base of power (cf. Dan 2:42; 7:7-8, 24; Rev 13:1). Prior to this time, Babylon the Great has dominated world politics and has controlled the world economy. Since Revelation 13:3-7 presents the antichrist’s kingdom as the dominant world power during the second half of the tribulation period, and Revelation 13:16-17 shows that he controls the world economic system throughout the second half of the tribulation period, Babylon the Great must be destroyed before the midpoint of the tribulation period. Certainly the fact that Babylon the Great is destroyed by the antichrist’s militaries, rather than directly from heaven, argues strongly for its fall occurring before the second advent.

Quote:A study of Revelation 17:1–19:4 shows that Babylon the Great is the world’s great superpower in the end times. The following facts emerge from an analysis of this section of the book of Revelation: (1) Babylon the Great has the largest economy of any entity in the world. It is the center of wealth in the world, and it is responsible for an extended period of global wealth creation in the end times. (2) Babylon the Great has shaped global culture in the end times, in a directly antichristian manner. (3) Babylon the Great has the greatest political power of any entity in the end times. (4) Babylon the Great is considered to have the strongest military in the world of the end times. All of these characteristics uniquely and definitively match the United States of America. For exegetical details, see the larger paper.

The time is close now that they are pushing all of these UFO/UAP stories and allowing DoD blessed spokesman (whistleblowers.. LOL) to prepare the population.

Want to know what is really happening and what will happen shortly?

It started at least in the 1940's with communication to "entities". Germany probably did the same thing in the early 40's.

Using ritual magic and satanic rituals.

Quote:In December 1990, in a remote village above the Arctic Circle, two Russian scientists embarked on a daring experiment. Their goal was to enhance human “super-perception” or ESP. They built a device that could shield subjects from electromagnetic interference and amplify their biological energy. The device was a large tube of rolled aluminum with a chair inside. As soon as the device was built, strange phenomena occurred around the village. Disc-shaped lights hovered around the lab. Balls of energy appeared and disappeared. The Northern Lights became so bright and vivid that they seemed to take physical shape. Inside the lab, anyone who approached the device felt an unexplainable sense of dread. It took a while to persuade anyone to try it. When the first subject finally sat in the chair, a flash of energy erupted that stunned everyone in the lab. The device worked. But it maybe worked a little too well. Not only did it boost people’s psychic abilities, it also enabled them to view any place in the world. And soon, they could view any place in time. In fact, these experiments confirmed a theory first proposed in the 1950s. That time, as we know it, doesn’t exist.

Donald J Trump has been on indicted 7 counts.

Quote:Trump attorney John Rowley said he has been indicted on seven counts. People familiar with the matter told the New York Times the charges include willfully retaining national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, making false statements and an obstruction of justice conspiracy. NBC News has not independently confirmed the charges.

Trump indicted on 7 charges in classified docs probe

Unfortunally one of my favorite alternative researcher is facing censorship and subpoena about his Manchester Arena incident. He published a book about it.

Quote:Greetings,

As you may know, the BBC and all mainstream media have recently produced
further hit pieces against myself and in particular my work covering the
2017 Manchester Arena incident.

The BBC has criticised me for 'profiting' from the Manchester Arena
incident because I published a book about it. I have therefore decided to
give the book away as a free download here …

https://cdn1.richplanet.net/pdf/Night_of_the_Bang.pdf

Please download the book (right click and save link as) from the link and
send it to everyone you think may be interested in the content.

You can find reviews (scroll down) about the free book from this link,

https://www.richplanet.net/amazon

It is clear from their recent articles that the legal action they have
described, which they say has been submitted to the High Court against me
(but I still have not to date yet received notice of), has the intention to
censor/remove my book permanently and remove all my videos on this subject
- as well as attempting to hit me with a 'damages' claim.

The associated films and lecture can be watched from the links below. I
advise you download and re-distribute these also, as it appears that the
intention is to censor all my work on this subject, which consists of no
more than hard evidence and honest opinion.

https://www.richplanet.net/richp_gen...&part=1&gen=99

https://www.richplanet.net/richp_gen...&part=1&gen=99

https://www.richplanet.net/richp_gen...&part=3&gen=99

UK Critical Thinkers videos on the subject can be found here ...

https://www.richplanet.net/richp_gue....php?person=18

If you wish to donate to my impending legal costs, please use this link ...

https://www.richplanet.net/legal.php

Sapere aude,

Richard D. Hall

Quote:Greetings,

Firstly THANK YOU to everyone who has so far donated to my legal fund. I am
very grateful to you.

I have received notification that a legal claim has been filed against me
in the High Court.

The claim is seeking damages and an injunction for harassment and breaches
of the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.

Note that there is no claim of libel or defamation which has been
incorrectly reported across most of mainstream media.

I have until the 1st of June 2023 to submit my defence.

I am in the process of appointing a solicitor/barrister and am appealing to
you to recommend a reliable, suitably experience and qualified professional
to present my evidence in court.

If you wish to help financially, I have set up a fund to pay for legal
fees, here,

https://www.richplanet.net/legal.php

(Note : the Gofundme funds are being transferred to my bank account daily,
therefore there is no risk of losing the funds).

Iain Davis has written an excellent article covering the issue here,

https://off-guardian.org/2023/04/19/...ll-propaganda/

My book is available free here ...

https://cdn1.richplanet.net/pdf/Night_of_the_Bang.pdf

Thankyou

Richard D. Hall

[Note : do not reply to this email. Use : richard@richplanet.net

This is an art piece I did recently I call, "The Smokies." I didn't see an art forum but I see this is as okay for daily chit chat. 
This was a scene I saw as I was driving up these mountains to my new home. The scene was a sunset on the mountains and this is my best interpretation of what I saw; with a little Bodhi-S twist to it.

Enjoy the colors. I hope they brighten up your day just a bit. There is so much "darkness" in this world that I try and brighten it up a bit when I can.

One Love, Rogue-Nation 

Attached Files

Thumbnail(s)
   

Another sick dissertation/report about child trafficking. Mel Gibson is supposedly going to do a 4 part series on what he knows so expect a major campaign to destroy his character even more than already. Whistle blowers from the CIA and news reports all agree this is an on going business of the sickest kind. A 34 billion dollars business

Not verified yet !!??

Quote:With the shocking news that the PGA will merge with the Saudi Arabian LIV tour, the game of golf is set for radical change. Check out the new rules that will be adopted for the new tour:

1. Players who hit an errant shot must yell "ALLAHU AKBAR!" instead of "FORE!": We're pretty sure fans will pay a little more attention when someone starts screaming this.
   
2. If you hit a woman with your shot, it's an automatic birdie: Serves them right for attending a golf tournament without their husbands' permission.
   
3. Players will be allowed to eliminate one stroke per round, known as the "Kashoggi rule": Very handy.
   
4. Bunkers will be booby-trapped with mines from the Golan Heights: It will give a whole new meaning to the phrase "explode out of the sand".
   
5. Every tournament will begin with the ceremonial Stoning of the Gay: As is Saudi tradition.
   
6. If players miss a putt less than two feet, guards immediately chop off their hands: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman believes if you miss a putt at that distance, you no longer deserve hands.
   
7. Once per weekend, they will let a suicide bomber loose on the course: Golf will never be boring again.
   
8. Winners will receive a new wife along with their oversized check: Right up Tiger's alley.
   
9. Players will be caned at the end of each round for each stroke over par: No more players cashing it in on a lousy round.
   
10. If a player's tee shot hits a Jew, they are instantly declared tournament champion: Are we sure this merger was a good idea?
    

Quote:PGA Tour agrees to merge with Saudi-backed rival LIV Golf
By Lillian Rizzo, CNBC
 
The PGA Tour has agreed to merge with Saudi-backed rival LIV Golf in a deal that would see the competitors squash pending litigation and move forward as a larger golf enterprise.
The two entities signed an agreement that would combine the PGA Tour’s and LIV Golf’s commercial businesses and rights into a new, yet-to-be-named for-profit company. The agreement includes DP World Tour, also known as the PGA European Tour.
LIV Golf is backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, an entity controlled by the Saudi crown prince and has been embroiled in antitrust lawsuits with the PGA Tour in the last year. The deal announced Tuesday would end all pending litigation.
PIF is prepared to invest billions of new capital into the new entity, CNBC’s David Faber reported Tuesday. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
The agreement — the second stunning sports deal in just months, following World Wrestling Entertainment’s merger with Endeavor Group’s UFC — will require the approval of the PGA Tour policy board, Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a memo to players that was obtained by CNBC.
“There is much work to do to get us from a framework agreement to a definitive agreement, but one thing is obvious: through this transformational agreement and with PIF’s collaborative investment, the immeasurable strength of the PGA Tour’s history, legacy and pro-competitive model not only remains intact, but is supercharged for the future,” he wrote in the memo. Deal talks started about seven weeks ago, he said later Tuesday.
Monahan also acknowledged the shock and anger triggered by the deal’s announcement, saying a meeting with PGA Tour players was “intense” and “heated.”
PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that after the merger is finalized, which he expects to be “in a matter of weeks,” the new board is prepared to evaluate every proposal that is presented. Al-Rumayyan is slated to serve as chairman of the board.
“Whatever it takes that’s … what we’re committed for,” Al-Rumayyan told Faber.
LIV didn’t see its matches distributed on TV in the U.S. until a few months ago, when the league signed a deal with the CW Network as the exclusive U.S. broadcast partner. The CW had agreed to air 14 global events, which began in February. Terms of the multiyear deal had not been disclosed.
Nexstar Media Group owns 75% of the CW Network. A representative for the company said in a statement Tuesday there would be no change to the LIV Golf event schedule for 2023.
“This is exciting day to unify and grow the game of golf,” Nexstar said in the statement. “We look forward to broadcasting seven more exciting tournaments this year featuring the world’s best golfers.”
Rival lawsuits
Monahan said the tour looked at the game of golf “on a global basis,” as its seen more growth in the sport outside of the U.S.
Still, he acknowledged Tuesday on CNBC that there has been a lot of tensions between the two organizations, but said “the game of golf is better for what we’ve done today.”
The two organizations had filed a series of antitrust claims against the other in recent months. LIV Golf sued The PGA Tour alleging anti-competitive practices for banning its players. The tour countersued, claiming LIV was stifling competition. Disputes ensued regarding the discovery process for evidence.
The lawsuits were spurred as the upstart league had lured multiple high-profile players, such as Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson, from the PGA Tour after the tour had banned the players from competing in LIV’s events.
On Tuesday, Mickelson tweeted, “Awesome day today” as part of a post sharing the news of the merger.
The deal comes soon after LIV golfer Brooks Koepka won the PGA Championship, one of four major titles in men’s golf.
As part of the agreement, the groups will establish “a fair and objective process for any players who want to re-apply for membership with the PGA Tour or DP World Tour” following the end of the 2023 season, according to a release.
Growing controversy
LIV Golf, which launched in 2022 and has been spending top dollar to lure golfers, has also been the subject of controversy, criticism and political intrigue in the U.S. PIF has reportedly invested $2 billion into LIV already, and had aspirations of creating franchises and teams that could one day be sold.
Critics of LIV have also accused PIF of “sportswashing” by using the league to distract from the kingdom’s history of human rights violations.
Family members of those who perished in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have protested the league, including outside of events. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers on Sept. 11 were from Saudi Arabia, and Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the attacks, was born in the country. It has been concluded by U.S. officials that Saudi nationals helped fund the terrorist group al-Qaeda, although investigations didn’t find that the Saudi officials were complicit in the attacks.
The group 9/11 Families United said they were “shocked and deeply offended” by the merger in a statement on Tuesday.
“Mr. Monahan talked last summer about knowing people who lost loved ones on 9/11, then wondered aloud on national television whether LIV Golfers ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour. They do now – as does he,” said 9/11 Families United Chair Terry Strada, whose husband Tom died in the World Trade Center’s North Tower. “PGA Tour leaders should be ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed. Our entire 9/11 community has been betrayed by Commissioner Monahan and the PGA as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window-dressing in their quest for money – it was never to honor the great game of golf.”
The statement referred to when Monahan said during an interview with CBS Sports that he had discussed these controversies with tour players.
“I think you’d have to be living under a rock not to know there are significant implications,” Monahan said during the interview. “I would ask any player who has left or any player who would consider leaving, ‘Have you ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA tour?’”
Monahan on Tuesday said he expected to be called a hypocrite and that he accepts the criticism.
Former President Donald Trump, who has hosted a number of LIV Golf events at his golf courses, has defended those events, falsely claiming that “nobody’s gotten to the bottom of 9/11.” Last year, Trump also said on Truth Social that a merger between LIV and The PGA Tour was inevitable.
On Tuesday, Trump weighed in on the merger on his Truth Social platform: “Great news from LIV Golf. A big, beautiful, and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf. Congrats to all!!!”
– CNBC’s David Faber and Jessica Golden contributed to this article.

June 7, 1981: the Israeli Air Force conducted Operation Opera aka Operation Babylon, was a surprise airstrike using 8 F-16A’s (supported by 6 F-15A’s) to destroy Iraq’s unfinished, French-built Osirak nuclear research reactor 11 miles SE of Baghdad. The airstrike also killed 10 Iraqi soldiers and 1 French civilian engineer.




Operation Opera - history in 5 minutes:

Quote:The attack squadron consisted of eight F-16As, each with two unguided Mark-84 2,000-pound delay-action bombs. A flight of six F-15As was assigned to the operation to provide fighter support. The F-16 pilots were Ze'ev Raz, Amos Yadlin, Dobbi Yaffe, Hagai Katz, Amir Nachumi, Iftach Spector, Relik Shafir, and Ilan Ramon. Raz led the attack, was later decorated by the Chief of Staff for his leadership. Ramon, who was the youngest pilot to participate in the operation, later became the first Israeli astronaut and died in the Columbia space shuttle disaster.

On 7 June 1981, at 15:55 local time (12:55 GMT), the operation was initiated. The Israeli planes left Etzion Airbase, flying unchallenged in Jordanian and Saudi airspace. To avoid detection, the Israeli pilots conversed in Saudi-accented Arabic while in Jordanian airspace and told Jordanian air controllers that they were a Saudi patrol that had gone off course. While flying over Saudi Arabia, they pretended to be Jordanians, using Jordanian radio signals and formations. The Israeli planes were so heavily loaded that the external fuel tanks that had been mounted on the planes were exhausted in-flight. The tanks were jettisoned over the Saudi desert.
....
In 2012, it was similarly argued by scholars at the RAND Corporation that an "Israeli or American attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would make it more, not less, likely that the Iranian regime would decide to produce and deploy nuclear weapons. Such an attack would also make it more, not less, difficult to contain Iranian influence."

Following Desert Storm, Dick Cheney thanked the Israeli mission commander for the "outstanding job he did on the Iraqi nuclear program in 1981". While many scholars debate the value of the bombing, Iraq did not possess nuclear weapons at the outbreak of the Gulf War, and, according to Cheney, the bombing made Desert Storm easier.
Operation Opera Israel airstrike on Iraq nuclear reactor 1981

Attached Files

Thumbnail(s)
   

Quote:In early April, the Navy announced it was moving its focus of experimentation for unmanned platforms to its Fourth Fleet, which is headquartered in Mayport, Florida, and operates largely in the Caribbean and the South Atlantic. This year’s unmanned experimentation effort will occur during the joint, international, UNITAS 23 exercise this summer and will include nations from across the region. The international exercise will continue the experiments that have been ongoing for the past several years both in the Arabian Gulf, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet did a similar string of international unmanned platform experiments under the leadership of  Task Force 59, and before that in the southern Californian operations area under the direction of Navy Surface Development Squadron ONE.

All three of these examples suggest a strategic assumption that the Navy can test game-changing capabilities in front of the world and yet still create the conditions for a technical leap-ahead. This is a mistake. To make the most of what unmanned and autonomous capabilities promise the warfighter, the Navy needs to take a lesson from the past and create a research, development, and prototyping test range on par with the Air Force’s fabled Area 51. To create the fleet of tomorrow with decisive capabilities, the Navy needs an unmanned “Area 52” where it can build and test breakthrough capabilities away from the prying eyes of competitors.

In 2022, the Navy sent four of its unmanned surface vessels to participate in its largest international exercise in the waters off Hawaii and San Diego. Twenty-six other nations participated, and China was not one of them. However, that did not stop the People’s Liberation Army Navy from sending an intelligence gathering ship to surveil the exercise and learn what it could. In 2022 and 2023, the United States and its partners in the Middle East conducted large exercises focused on unmanned and autonomous platforms with great apparent success. Again, foreign adversaries showed up not only to observe the operations and learn what they could about the United States’ most cutting-edge naval capabilities, but also seized one of those assets. Given that the Caribbean and the South Atlantic are monitored closely by Cuba, Venezuela, and Brazil—countries that have increasingly played host to Russia, China and even Iran—and are home waters of some of the largest criminal drug cartels on the planet, it would be foolish to think that advanced unmanned-autonomous capabilities tested in the region under the Navy’s Fourth Fleet would not be quickly compromised or even seized.

Such attempts at espionage should be expected. The United States has traditionally been the most technologically innovative nation in the world when it comes to its defense. The U.S.  military has made a practice in the post-Vietnam era of investing in advanced capabilities rather than pursuing the sheer numbers associated with raw capacity. U.S. adversaries—including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea—have systematically attempted (and often succeeded) to steal U.S. technology, reverse engineer it for themselves, and thus shorten their development time. The classic example of this phenomenon is the extent to which the Soviet Union went to obtain the secrets behind first the atomic bomb, then the hydrogen bomb, and finally guided missiles. It took the Soviet Union just four years after the first U.S. nuclear test at Los Alamos to detonate their first atomic bomb; then just three years after the first U.S. hydrogen bomb test, the Soviets tested their first fusion weapon in late 1952. Ultimately, the Soviets were able to overtake the U.S. in some critical national security technologies because the United States had not appropriately safeguarded its own innovations. 

Properly developed and safeguarded, unmanned/autonomous capabilities could provide war-altering breakthroughs of the same magnitude as those which accompanied the advent of stealth and precision-guided munitions. Not only could unmanned/autonomous platforms extend the range of present sensors and provide additional offboard weapons magazines to supplement manned ships, but these new air, surface, and subsurface platforms could operate beyond the limits of human bodies and at speeds of function and decision-making that exceed human capacity. Lastly, they could extend U.S. military lethality into enemy territory without risking American lives. All told, whoever masters not only the development and design of unmanned/autonomous platforms but also the most effective concepts of operations to employ them will have a significant advantage on any future battlefield—an advantage that can be sustained if properly safeguarded. But, and this is the crucial point, the U.S. will not be able to create and maintain that advantaged trade space if it tests the most important innovations in front of allies, friends, and adversaries. This is why testing in the Fourth Fleet area of operations is strategically unwise. Instead, the Pentagon should take a lesson from the past and develop a new test range for unmanned/autonomous platforms much as it did in the past with its most advanced aviation projects.

Late in 1953, Lockheed’s legendary aircraft designer, Kelly Johnson, approached the Air Force with a design for a high-altitude surveillance aircraft. The Air Force reached out to the CIA, the plane’s other natural customer, and between them they let a contract to Lockheed’s “Skunk Works” team to build twenty aircraft that came to be known as the U-2 Dragon Lady. Neither the Air Force nor the CIA wanted the aircraft to be test flown from an Air Force base, so Johnson sent his company pilot out to survey several potential test sites. He found a dry lake north of Las Vegas within one of the Atomic Energy Commission’s test ranges and requested its use. On the map that test range was denoted as “Area 51,” and hence a legend was born. Johnson’s desire was to test his new aircraft where others could not see its activities, and that’s what he and Skunk Works did. 



During the succeeding decades, other aircraft, to include the SR-71 Blackbird and the F-117 Nighthawk, also emerged from the site. If the Navy wants to capitalize on all the advantages unmanned/autonomous platforms can offer, then it should look to establish a new range in which to research, develop, prototype, and test new air, surface, and subsurface unmanned systems and concepts of operations. Fortunately, there is an ideal location for just such a test range. 

Lake Michigan is the fourth largest lake in the world by volume. It stretches just over 300 miles long and about 120 miles wide. Unlike the other four Great Lakes, all of Lake Michigan lies within U.S. territory, and while there is a diplomatic requirement to consult with the Canadians regarding military operations on the lake, there is historic precedent for such operations: during World War II, the U.S. Navy qualified most of its new aviators on two paddle-wheel aircraft carriers operating on the lake. The Chippewa Basin’s 920-foot depth provides ample room for unmanned underwater testing. For unmanned aviation development and testing, there is already an FAA-designated restricted military airspace over the lake, R-6903, where Air National Guard aircraft from the four adjoining states (Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois) operate. For more than a decade, the Navy has conducted initial sea trials for its littoral combat ships within Green Bay and has gained experience performing surface operations in and around the established normal lake traffic. Finally, the Navy and the broader joint force is already present in the region, and there is ample room for enlargement.

Lake Michigan is large and deep enough to test and develop tactics and operational concepts for naval unmanned/autonomous platforms. (NOAA)

Naval Station Great Lakes, established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905, is in Illinois, some thirty miles north of Chicago. Today its “bootcamp” marks the beginning point in every U.S. sailor’s naval career. The base also has a sea-walled boat basin along with adjacent buildings that could be repurposed to provide maintenance and support for Navy watercraft, including prototype unmanned surface and subsurface craft. 

Experimental unmanned aircraft could be home based in the region at the Virgil Grissom Joint Air Reserve Base, located near Peru, Indiana, just ninety miles from Lake Michigan. Grissom is a former Cold War-era Strategic Air Command bomber base. Today it hosts a squadron of reserve tankers that provide fuel for the joint force all over the world, but it has extensive room for expansion to support Navy unmanned aircraft of all types. Aircraft based at there could be forward detached to other Air Reserve bases in Battle Creek, Michigan, or Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to allow them to operate closer to the restricted air space over the lake.

From a technology development standpoint, all Navy unmanned/autonomous development can be programmatically supported from the service’s cutting-edge tech-center at Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane, Indiana, thirty miles south of Indianapolis. Crane was established as the Navy’s premier ordnance depot during World War II and today supports electronic warfare, micro-electronics, expeditionary warfare, special warfare, and strategic system programs. Crane also has room for growth, although it already represents one of the greatest concentrations of credentialed scientists and engineers in the Navy’s broad research and development system.

Naval Station Great Lakes has one other potential attraction: its 1,600 acres of land still has room for development, particularly two city blocks of open land on the southern half of the base. There is already an established office building in this area of the base and room for additional construction. The Army has been envisioning its future from its Army Futures Command, a four-star headquarters located in Austin, Texas. Naval Station Great Lakes would be an excellent headquarters for a Navy Futures Command. A three-star staff could be established on Lake Michigan and tasked with guiding the Navy toward its future force structure requirements as well as developing advanced concepts of operations. Not only would it be far away from the prying eyes of adversaries, but also far from distractions of the Pentagon, Norfolk, and San Diego. It could begin initial operations with the people and budgets already assigned to other unmanned initiatives, and then build upward from there.

This midwestern corridor, from southern Indiana to Green Bay, Wisconsin, represents an expanding high-tech region. Beyond industry giants such as Rolls-Royce, Saab, and Fincantieri’s Marinette Marine Group, all of which have recently located industrial manufacturing hubs into the area, it also hosts three of the world’s most advanced research universities—Purdue University, the University of Chicago, and Notre Dame, each of which are making consistent breakthroughs in a wide range of technologies ranging from hypersonics to quantum computing. The corridor is also home to two national labs, the Argonne National Laboratory and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and the federally funded research-and-development center, Draper Labs, recently located a facility in the region. With these research-and- development entities within the local business environment, an Area 52 research, development, and prototyping eco-system focused on developing unmanned/autonomous systems would have great advantages over the Arabian Gulf, Pacific, and Caribbean alternatives.

Critics may argue that activities on Lake Michigan will be no more secure than those carried out in the Caribbean, but such an assertion will not stand up to scrutiny. While overhead satellites and even lower-altitude spy balloons will be able to ascertain some degree of what is occurring on the lake, actions can be taken to limit that surveillance. Testing can be scheduled at times when high-resolution satellites are not overhead. Spy balloons can be shot down before they get over installations crucial to our national security. Foreign entities can be blocked from buying land next to or near critical locations. 

Activities at Area 51 have remained highly obscured for nearly 70 years. An “Area 52” could do the same for unmanned/autonomous naval systems. The potential war-altering capabilities inherent in such systems must be developed with urgency and protected to the greatest extent possible. Lake Michigan and the midwestern tech corridor present the Navy with an ideal location to build a future force that takes full advantage of the technical advances emerging from top universities and industries, away from the eyes and ears of the nation’s adversaries.

The Navy Needs an ‘Area 52’