Killer
Robots
The
Future of War: Part 1 of 3
Time and
again, intellectuals and artists alike have prophesized bleak
futures for a race whose technology and hubris have far exceeded
its wisdom. So, if the wet-dreams of futurists within the U.S.
Department of Defense come to fruitionfar-reaching ambitions
to apply robotics in the battlefield, bioengineer the perfect
soldiers, and command complete dominance of Spacelet us
not forget: we have been warned.
A DEADLY
MOSQUITO
On Jan. 13th,
2006, U.S. missiles struck Pakistan near the Afghan border. The
failed attempt to assassinate al-Qaida leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri,
demolished three houses, killing at least 13 civilians, including
women and children. What makes this airstrike interesting is not
the collateral damage or the expected enflamed anti-American
sentiment in the Middle East, but the technology used to carry
out the attack: a Predator drone equipped with Hellfire missiles.
The Predator, which looks similar to a mosquito with a 49-foot
wingspan, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) operated from the
ground via radio control. First deployed in the mid-90s for reconnaissance
purposes, it has since been converted into a tool used to hunt
and kill suspected terroristsin any country with or without
permission of the host government.
UAVs like the
Predatorseveral dozens of which have been deployed throughout
Iraqare only a small piece of the robotic pie proposed by
the Pentagon. According to Jon Pike, one of the world's leading
experts on military-policy and director of the website GlobalSecurity.org,
for a glimpse of the future, one only needs to look to the silver
screen.
A lot
of people think were a super power on a rampage because
we keep blowing things up, says Pike, Well they aint
seen nothing yet. You want to see what the future looks like,
go watch those Terminator movies.
DRIVERLESS
VEHICLES
Research is
underway to develop fully autonomous unmanned ground vehicles
(UGVs) which think for themselves rather than being remote controlled.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has even
created an annual DARPA Grand Challenge, in order to spark grass-roots
UGV development. Robot buffs from all over the country build autonomous
vehicles for the event, in hopes of navigating a 131-mile desert
course to win the $2-million prize. Last year, five vehicles completed
the course with the prize going to Stanford Universitys
robotic Volkswagen SUV.
The 2001 Defense
Authorization Act mandates that one third of all ground vehicles
should be unmanned by 2015, and a whole slew of researchers are
designing a wide array of UGVs under the Department of Defenses
Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. From unmanned convoys and
scouts, to a five-ton Armed Robotic Vehicleequipped with
a machine gun, beyond line-of-sight missiles, and automatic cannonthe
FCS bots are designed to increase the survivability of U.S. troops.
A machine is always cheaper to replace than a human being, and
its hard to complain about the planned Robotic Extraction
Vehicles, which will serve as automatic armored ambulances used
to collect wounded soldiers.
ARMED GROUND ROBOTS
The fully autonomous
vehicles under development can not, as of yet, fire weapons on
their ownthey are all remotely operated. This small bit
of reassurance is what the Department of Defense hopes will settle
peoples nerves who cant help but recall the malfunctioning
Hal super-computer from Kubricks Space Odyssey. But thats
not to say some of the robots used by the U.S. military wont
be lean, mean killing machines. Currently a semi-autonomous robot
called Talona 100 lb treaded robot with a mechanical armis
being retrofitted with lethal weapons and undergoing safety certification
by the U.S. Army. According to Foster-Miller, the company who
developed the Talon, there are 400 basic units in Iraq and Afghanistan
used to safely disarm explosives. The armed variant, called SWORDS
(Special Weapons Observation Remote Direct-Action System) can
be equipped with an M-249 machine gun, rockets, 40 mm grenade
launchers, an M-240 machine gun, or an M-16 rifle. When cleared
for operations, SWORDS will allow soldiers to engage in combat
from a distancelike an eerie first-person shooter video
game.
Brian Doherty,
program manager for the Talon robot, isnt concerned about
the ethical implications of such a machine. We are saving
the lives of our soldiers; the robot doesnt do any killing
by itself, states Doherty. He also thinks armed ground robots
like SWORDS will cut down on the number of civilian causalities.
When you are not being shot at directly, you have a little
more time to check out [the target] and make a decision,
he says.
On this point
Jon Pike agrees, As it is right now, we do a lot of killing
with bombs which are lethal over a large area. With these robots
we can do much more of our killing with bullets that can be precisely
aimed at combatants and can spare non combatants. But Pike
is skeptical the human will remain in the loop for very long,
estimating the military will deem it unnecessary by the middle
of the next decade. Youll basically tell [the robot]
it is authorized to go into a building and kill any male over
five and a half feet tallor whatever the rules of engagement
are.
RESHAPING
WAR
From a military
strategy viewpoint, the benefits of these machines are obvious.
You dont have to write condolence letters if one is destroyed,
or supply veterans benefits if one is wounded. They are
infinitely brave and are never insubordinate. Most importantly,
they will kill without mercy and without compunction. However,
there may also be humanitarian applications to consider. Pike
feels if all we are risking is robots, there will be a stronger
disposition to suppress genocides, such as the current conflict
in Darfur. Unfortunately, on the other end of the spectrum, this
technology could make it more appealing to use force as an ends
to a means.
Its
gotten awfully easy for us to commit troopsweve been
at war almost continually for 16 years nowand this is going
to make it a lot easier, says Pike. When you can go
into battle almost certain to suffer no causalities
Well,
when you have a hammer all your problems start to look like nails.
Pike is concerned that our robotic arsenal will increase with
such rapidity; it will soon become too late for anyone to consider
the consequences. And with hyped-up articles in Popular Science
and news reports in Forbes filled with slick images of killer
robots even a peace activist could admire, its obvious the
mainstream media isnt going to be trumpeting the alarm.
Thanks to advances
in technology, modern warfare has become increasingly abstract
to those involved. The neo-cons in the Whitehouse commit the U.S.
to conflicts without having ever served in active duty themselves,
while ignoring the advice of those who have. American citizens
condone their decisions without ever seeing the carnage wrought
by a military stronger than any other on the planet. And soon,
thanks to the application of robotics on the battlefield, even
the grunts on the ground will be taking out targets without ever
having to look them square in the eye. While America marches toward
this brave new world of letting machines do its dirty-work, it
ironically seeks to label the tactics of its enemiesthe
suicide bombas cowardly because the killing occurs at close
quarters. The mechanized wars of the future, by further reducing
lives to distant targets, will remove what little humanity remains
in the actions of the U.S. military.
Written
By Jason Glover
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