US funds Mission Impossible tech for military ops

This article will not self-dustruct in ten seconds, but soon our military's technology might. DARPA, the Department of Research Projects Agency, is giving IBM a $3.5

million contract to develop electronics that explode on cue, Mission Impossible style.

The project’s official name is the “Vanishing Programmable Resources,” or VAPR project, and officially, is looking to create “transient electronics” that can be destroyed with a remote control. The electronics will use a radio frequency trigger in order to work, one which should be capable of shattering a coating of glass on a silicon chip and turning both into powder.
DARPA wants VAPR electronics to be used in combat zones, for the sharing of sensitive data. Eventually, the government wants to create a system of devices that would carry information to the correct parties, time-sensitive so they could be instantly destroyed by sensors once the data has been received.

According to BBC, the devices would use a simple “trigger,” like a fuse or layer of reactive metal, which would transmit the radio frequency and shatter the glass substrate coating the chip. DARPA, in combination with IBM, is also looking to use materials that would decompose naturally after their detonation.
Other companies are also collaborating on the project, most notably technology moguls SRI International and Honeywell Aerospace, with each awarded $2.5 and $4.7 million, respectively.

This all sounds amazing, but I do have one point of inquiry: DARPA, do you remember how in the Mission Impossible movies, Ethan Huntalways had to climb a ridiculously tall mountain or something, so he could safely throw the exploding phone behind him and suavely not look at the explosion? Yeah, that's because if the phone exploded while he was just getting coffee or something, people would have noticed it . Exploding phones are not exactly the pinnacle of subtlety that a spy requires in his devices, you know?

Might want to think about that a little when you’re coming up with possible uses for VAPR. Just a suggestion.

Source BBC