Lebanon suffers effects of future 'game changer of the battlefield'

Soft and silver-white in colour, lithium belongs to the alkali group of metals and is the lightest and least dense at room temperature. Extremely reactive and flammable, it is not found naturally in its elemental form occurring instead in chemical compounds.

For commercial lithium production the element has to be isolated through electrolysis from a mixture of potassium chloride and lithium chloride and the largest reserves worldwide are found in Chile, although last year Australia topped mining production with an output of 86 thousand tonnes.

Due to its increasing application as a power source for electronic appliances via lithium-ion batteries, its global market value amounted to more than US$4 billion last year and is forecast to rise to about US$6.5 billion by 2030.

About 52 per cent of the world’s lithium is produced in Australia where it is extracted from spodumene, a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate, unlike in Chile where it is derived from brines.

China, the third-largest producer, has a strong presence in the lithium supply chain and contains 60 per cent of the world’s lithium refining capacity for batteries. In addition to developing domestic mines, Chinese companies have also acquired around US$5.5 billion worth of assets in countries such as Chile, Canada and Australia.

Batteries account for the largest demand worldwide, propelled by the growth in the market for electric vehicles powered by rechargeable lithium-ion cells. By next year demand is forecast to reach one million tonnes and exceed two million by 2030.

As of 2022 CATL in China and LG Energy Solution in South Korea were the top producers of lithium cells accounting for more than half the international market as the technology revolutionises global travel. But its use is not limited to electronic vehicles with a wide variety of industries now relying on lithium-powered devices.

Probably the most common application is for smartphones, laptops, tablets and digital cameras… the high-energy density of the batteries allowing these devices to operate for extended periods between charges, making them ideal for mobile applications.

Wearable technology such as smartwatches, fitness trackers and medical devices is another sector dependent for power to keep running day and night, allowing users to track their activity, monitor their health and stay connected on the go.

But lithium batteries are also finding their way into a variety of home appliances too, including cordless vacuum cleaners, smart thermostats and wireless speakers in which they provide reliable power without the need for bulky cords or frequent battery replacements. Consumer goods from electric toothbrushes and shavers to gaming controllers and digital cameras are also being revolutionised, along with Bluetooth headsets, wireless speakers and remote controls.

Medical equipment is also being transformed with life-saving devices such as pacemakers, defibrillators and insulin pumps powered by lithium batteries, while they are playing a crucial role in environmental-monitoring systems such as sensors, data loggers and communication devices in remote or hazardous environments.

In the industrial sector too lithium batteries are used to power a variety of systems. And from warehouse automation and portable power tools to robotics their high-energy density and fast-charging times makes them ideal for demanding applications where reliability is critical.

Artificial intelligence applications such as smart speakers, virtual assistants and autonomous robots are very dependent on lithium batteries to power their sophisticated algorithms and computational processes enabling them to operate autonomously for extended periods without human intervention, while the batteries can also be used as storage mechanisms for energy derived from renewable sources such as solar and wind power. Excess energy generated during periods of high production can be stored for release when demand is high to stabilise the electrical grid and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

And so the list goes on, from emergency-backup power sources for critical systems to aerospace applications such as satellites, spacecraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones)… lithium-ion batteries are literally everywhere.

Undoubtedly the technology has far-reaching applications few would argue are not of considerable benefit to society but there is a darker side too with a multitude of military applications that come into the equation. Drones and robotics are having a profound affect on warfare, while some of the other military applications extend to weapons systems, communication devices and more mundane equipment such as night-vision goggles.

But these applications are just the tip of the iceberg of what is possible, with a catastrophic series of deadly explosions in Lebanon last week perhaps the darkest application of the technology widely witnessed so far.

Israel claimed the explosions were Hezbollah “pagers” that had been intercepted and rigged to explode but there was a fundamental flaw in this narrative… it wasn’t just pagers that burst into flames, widespread reports suggest the explosions occurred in all manner of devices powered by lithium-ion batteries. Thousands of devices used by mothers, doctors, lawyers, children and emergency workers all blowing up for no apparent reason, killing hundreds of people and maiming thousands more.

How is this possible? Well it’s a combination of the basic principles of lithium-ion batteries and how they are affected by electromagnetic frequencies.

At the heart of every lithium battery is a chemical reaction that involves the movement of lithium ions between the positive and negative electrodes. During discharge lithium ions move from the anode (negative electrode) through the electrolyte to the cathode (positive electrode) to provide the electrical energy that powers the device. When the device is being charged this process is reversed, with lithium ions moving from the cathode back to the anode.

Lithium batteries offer numerous advantages over traditional batteries, including a higher energy density, longer lifespan and faster charging times but they also generate serious risks, predominantly the potential for “thermal runaway”.

And that’s the magic phrase: thermal runaway, the means to turn a simple battery into an extremely reactive and flammable bomb through exposure to an electromagnetic frequency that can be targeted at specific devices or broadcast across a network to affect all equipment in specific areas, as was probably the case in Lebanon last week.

So what is thermal runaway? Well, it’s an inductive heating process triggered by electromagnetic radiation that disrupts, disables or damages affected electronic components and circuits, which in the case of lithium-ion batteries turns them into very combustible and explosive weapons.

The phenomenon has the capacity to make the battery incredibly destructive due to uncontrolled thermal activity that sets off a chain reaction leading to rapid increases in temperature and pressure. This reaction starts when the battery’s internal temperature reaches a point that causes a breakdown of the internal components and can escalate quickly into fire or an explosion.

And how might this high-frequency induction heating be triggered? Would it surprise you to hear that specific 5G transmissions could affect all lithium-ion devices within their vicinity with sufficient electromagnetic radiation to cause a thermal-runaway event? So, simply send out the right electromagnetic frequency and all devices in the area could become subject to thermal runaway which could result in them catching fire or exploding.

I don’t know the extent of the 5G network in Lebanon but in Washington, New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome or Berlin I’m pretty certain it has the capacity to produce more than enough electromagnetic radiation to set off an event capable of triggering any number of devices, with huge similarities to events that occurred in Lebanon.

So the 5G network is one way of weaponising lithium-ion devices but the art has become far more sophisticated, with the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) in the United States one of many technological institutions developing military applications.

Of course much of this technology is classified but dig deep enough and you’ll soon realise how far the research has developed, with high-power microwave (HPM) systems already existing that digital news provider Air & Cosmos International predicts are about to become the future “game changer of the battlefield”.

Specifically Air & Cosmos International is referring to Darpa’s WARDEN (Waveform Agile RF Directed Energy) system announced in February 2021, which it describes as an offensive jamming capability for the US armed forces. Capable of extending the range of HPM 10 times beyond existing technologies, deployment of WARDEN would “enable the instant destruction of all electronic components of an air, land or naval platform”.

Yes, that’s correct, the “instant destruction” of all electrical components. So, imagine the affect it could have on lithium-ion batteries and the repercussions with regard to thermal runaway.

Air & Cosmos International goes on to say that microwave weapons are on the same level as a nuclear threat in that they can be used to take a country back to the Stone Age by neutralising communication systems, vehicles and electrical and computer networks.

So, I ask you, what makes most sense? Targeted HPM systems inducing indiscriminate explosions and fires in all devices within range due to thermal runaway or intercepted pagers rigged to detonate when powered up? The scale of the attack points in one direction… and one direction only, an indiscriminate attack on anyone using a device powered with a lithium-ion battery within range of the electromagnetic frequency.

The Mossad propaganda machine will tell you all day long that the attack last week was on selected Hezbollah terrorist targets but it’s total nonsense, like most of the Zionist baloney regurgitated by a complicit global mainstream media.

The fact is it was Israel indiscriminately targeting innocent civilians with the very specific intention of widening hostilities in the region in line with its expansionist Yinon Plan to annex “greater Israel”, comprised of Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait and swathes of land in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and into Turkey… the supposed “promised land” allegedly conferred to the “Jewish people” in the Bible.

And, as of last night, Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime in Jerusalem has escalated the situation further by unleashing its Israel Defence Force “attack dogs” across the Lebanese border with devastating attacks on what it alleges are Hezbollah targets.

Described by Israeli sources as a "limited, localised" operation against Hezbollah, the victims are the innocent inhabitants of southern Lebanon caught up in what Israel describes as "targeted ground raids" against targets that pose an "immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel”.

Really... women, the elderly, children years away from puberty all Hezbollah targets? Well, when it comes to Zionist terrorism and expansionism it seems everyone is a legitimate target with Hamas and Hezbollah just covenient bogeymen conjured up to con the ignorant that genocide and ethnic cleansing is actually self-defence.

For humanity’s sake you cannot be serious... Israel can't be allowed to treat humanity with such disdain, although you can be sure it will as long as its friends in the corridors of power continue to turn a blind eye to its genocidal acts of terrorism.