Here comes the Terminators!

[palusami]

U.S. Army tests battlefield robot armed with pump action shotgun; bring on the Terminators!

Interesting commentary article on the use of battlefield robots in war and the various moral implications involved with creating an army of them. One the one hand, it reduces the risk to soldiers but at the same time, may make war more "acceptable" to an aggressor.

Maybe I've been watching too many sci-fi movies but a robot with a shotgun is a little scary!

http://www.newstarget.com/002080.html

[rainman::|:|]

Human casualties during modern war serve two purposes: to contain aggression, and to prevent ecological disaster. If casualties were removed from the picture, battles might become much larger, more lengthy, and could create an ecological wasteland in their wake (if they ever ended, that is). I think, like nuclear weapons, treaties are needed to ensure such a war never occurs.

paul

[virividox]

what other countries would field robots? at least wich other countries are looking into it right now?

[Abstract]

Yeah, I agree completely with Paul.

[edesignuk]

Yeah, I agree completely with Paul.
Ditto. Having robots to fight your battles is ridiculous :rolleyes:

[MacBandit]

As it is with current technology war has become extremely impersonal. They need to take all the guns, planes, etc. away and make them fight with knives only.

[palusami]

As it is with current technology war has become extremely impersonal. They need to take all the guns, planes, etc. away and make them fight with knives only.

but i think it would be even better if they fought hand to hand/toe to toe, and it were the leaders of the countries that did the fighting. :p

[PlaceofDis]

scary thoughts being thrown around in that article, but very true, personally a part of me hope it never comes to fruitation, but a part does think it helps push technology, but in the wrong direction....

[MacBandit]

but i think it would be even better if they fought hand to hand/toe to toe, and it were the leaders of the countries that did the fighting. :p

Agreed.

An idea I came up with about 4 years ago to change war as it is today is that whenever troops are sent into battle by congress whether it is a declared war or not all congressional income is diverted to the troops until the troops are brought home or at least until the fighting is over.

[Abstract]

Yeah, hand to hand combat with no weapons would be cool, but then we'd see pro boxers, martial arts instructors and such being recruited for the army rather than your regular Joe. It'd be funny watching 2400 guys wearing white Gi's punching and kicking on a plain field. :cool:

[jared_kipe]

Ditto. Having robots to fight your battles is ridiculous :rolleyes:

Ditto, next time it will be "robot strafes elementary school"

[jared_kipe]

Yeah, hand to hand combat with no weapons would be cool, but then we'd see pro boxers, martial arts instructors and such being recruited for the army rather than your regular Joe. It'd be funny watching 2400 guys wearing white Gi's punching and kicking on a plain field. :cool:

Or maybe swords, but now arrows, arrows are cheap. ;)

[solvs]

The problem is going to come when one side is using cyborgs and the other isn't. Whether we even get to self aware or AI robots... well, that's a whole 'nother need to worry. Though I wonder if emotion processors would make them more or less willing to kill. Maybe the military wouldn't want to add emotions even if they could. Would be funny to see that even without emotions, they might not want to kill because it wouldn't be logical.

The mind wanders.

[jared_kipe]

The problem is going to come when one side is using cyborgs and the other isn't. Whether we even get to self aware or AI robots... well, that's a whole 'nother need to worry. Though I wonder if emotion processors would make them more or less willing to kill. Maybe the military wouldn't want to add emotions even if they could. Would be funny to see that even without emotions, they might not want to kill because it wouldn't be logical.

The mind wanders.

Who said cyborgs? We are talking Robot on human action, or possibly Robot Robot action.

[Sun Baked]

Remember it didn't take them long to start arming the flying drones developed for on-site combat information aquisition.

Quite a few of those things were doing test flights and entered combat in Iraq armed with missles.

So land based drones aren't too far behind.

They do after all have police departments with drones armed with a shotguns. Though the shotgun is usually used for shooting unknow packages, or going after armed idiots.

[Colonel Panik]

Hmmm. It's a tough one. Pity they don't spend more time on figuring out how to prevent war, like only the leaders' children being sent into battle.

That said, can you imagine what this would do? It would basically mean that the country with the biggest budget would win every war before it starts especially against any country that still fought with flesh soldiers. Which country would pit humans against machines?

But, isn't this what they do with nuclear weapons? Wasn't the USSR bankrupted because they couldn't afford to keep up with Reagan's budget?

Anyway, tin soldiers are a step away from using clones to fight our battles.

[Fukui]

Human casualties during modern war serve two purposes: to contain aggression, and to prevent ecological disaster. If casualties were removed from the picture, battles might become much larger, more lengthy, and could create an ecological wasteland in their wake (if they ever ended, that is). I think, like nuclear weapons, treaties are needed to ensure such a war never occurs.

If I could pack my bags and move somewhere else I think I would start packing now... I never thought this stuff would start to come true...

Though...

..when I think about it, how is this too different from say a Neutron Bomb that basically kills everything in its path, leaving buildings and stuff undamaged? You already don't need soldiers... how nice. :(

[homerjward]

hmm...could humans in cyborg-type suits defeat robots? they did in star wars episode 2...but this is a lot more serious than that. i think that's a really bad idea because then there's no stopping what we could do. if we send in robots we could nuke the country and be fine because none of our troops would be harmed, just robots who would easily survive the radiation i imagine.

[wdlove]

War has already become very impersonal. The US has a vast array of technology where the troops never see the enemy face to face. The use of robots reminds me of the battles in Star Wars. I will be very interested to observe the progress. If using them will save lives, why not give it a try. In the case its that causalities they draw the attention and protest.

[x86isslow]

But, isn't this what they do with nuclear weapons? Wasn't the USSR bankrupted because they couldn't afford to keep up with Reagan's budget?

Anyway, tin soldiers are a step away from using clones to fight our battles.

the ussr wasn't bankrupted by Reagan, that's only a popular myth. there was this whole other thing- the lack of a service economy, and when that was coupled with high oil prices and "russia's vietnam" aka Afghanistan, it destroyed the already crippled (see planned economy, 70s oil crisis) Russian economy.