US/UK deploying robot soldiers to Iraq

PcP

Apologies if posted elsewhere, I didn't see anything in a quick search.

BBC story

I'm not sure what to make of this, it's a joint venture between the UK's MOD and the Carlisle Group. The idea of lethal robots makes me a little uneasy straight off the bat but I'm thinking that if US troops are controlling these things from a distance (and therefore feeling less under threat) they may be less trigger happy than a guy under fire on the ground. On the flipside, they have a new toy to play with :rolleyes:
I wouldn't want one of these anywhere near me regardless of who was controlling it.

billy the squid

how difficult would it be to generate an electromagnetic pulse to knock the robot off?

KdjaCL

Its johnny 5 :O

EMP aint easy to come by doubt iraquis guerillas would ahve access to them.

Good idea altho cant see them being much use as doubt their fast. Wonder if there any footage of them in action.

kdjac

The Corinthian

Truth is as strange as fiction then...

Lenin

I'm pretty sure an RPG would exterminate a 'robot soldier'...This only shows what cowards the American troops are. Most of them are 18 year old boys that are given drugs during battle to help them.

Nuttzz

Im so disappointed,

I was expecting something like this

toiletduck

Lenin wrote:

This only shows what cowards the American troops are. Most of them are 18 year old boys that are given drugs during battle to help them.

It shows the U.S. doesnt wants to protect its troops and reduce casulties, hardly cowardly. And what drugs are you on about??

bonkey

Umm...what relevance does this have to Politics?

I'm not saying it isn't relevant...and maybe there isn't a better forum....but I don't see the fit just now...

jc

PcP

Sorry Bonkey, not really political (more just an interesting development) but it seemed more relevant here than after hours or such. Move/delete as you see fit.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

DadaKopf

The Simpsons wrote:

The wars of the future will not be fought on the battlefield or at sea. They will be fought in space, or possibly on top of a very tall mountain. In either case, most of the actual fighting will be done by small robots. And as you go forth today remember always your duty is clear: To build and maintain those robots.

I think it's less like Johnny 5 and more like...

Magnolia_Fan

billy the squid wrote:

how difficult would it be to generate an electromagnetic pulse to knock the robot off?

Pretty Tough when your hand is blown off by it...ahhh..What about soldier monkeys..they can ride horses and joust against each other. I'd love to see that. Right after Shock and Awe to bring people down they could of showed a monkey jousting match...really could of lifted the nations spirits...but my idea's are always rejected

popinfresh

Wow, this is the beginning of 21st century combat. :eek:

Magnolia_Fan

Lenin wrote:

This only shows what cowards the American troops are.

Cowards!?!? Its a matter of opinion which your fully entitled to express thanks to men and women such as those fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Freedom isn't free, it costs folks like you and me and if we don't all chip in we'll never pay that bill" - Team America

Also from Team America - "America, F&%k Yeah!"

The Corinthian

popinfresh wrote:

Wow, this is the beginning of 21st century combat. :eek:

TBH, we probably saw that back in September 2001.

Redleslie2

Not much use if the iraqis have mastered "stairs tech" is it. A bit like a dalek.

Hobbes

AFAIK they can climb stairs quite fine.

Redleslie2

How about opening doors. And getting out of holes deeper than 3 feet.

Redleslie2

It'd be cool if it could fly.

Hobbes

I would be less worried about that, and more worried about the fact they can be radio jammed and reprogrammed using a USB port.

Add to that only 4 hours battery time and the price of 200k per unit.

Redleslie2

I assume the price will come down if they get some orders but I'd still be more worried about holes and uneven surfaces generally. I don't see how it's supposed to get over walls and stuff like that.

Kell

PcP wrote:

if US troops are controlling these things from a distance (and therefore feeling less under threat) they may be less trigger happy than a guy under fire on the ground.

Or they could be an excuse for being more trigger happy blaming mechanical/software glitches?

K-

gandalf

Hmmm I think the relivance to politics is the mention of the Carlyle Group, isn't that the crowd that the Bush's are mixed up with. Great way to sell your product and line your pockets by starting a war that can be a testing ground for your new weapons. Of course you're also going to be lining your pockets with reconstruction work and oil based industry.

One thing that struck me as well. I hope these things are not based on MS OS technology, it would give a whole new meaning to the "Blue Screen of Death" Error message (or should that be "Blue, White and Red Screen of Death!").

Villain

I see 31 US troops are reported to have died in a helicopter crash today in Iraq!.

pork99

Redleslie2 wrote:

It'd be cool if it could fly.

They already have UAVs, eg the Predator. They're developing minature UAVs that can be launched by an individual soldier.

The US military sponsors an annual off-road robot vehicle competition;

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is sponsoring the DARPA Grand Challenge. The contestants will be "autonomous motor vehicles" that can drive and service themselves without human intervention, making all their own decisions. They must be able to navigate without help, even by remote control.

http://www.wired.com/news/autotech/0,2554,58540,00.html

I believe that this is the beginning of a development process which will give the US military the sort of overwhelming superiority in "asymmetric warfare" that they already have in conventional warfare. Whether this is a good or bad thing I make no comment.

It's fascinating that some people call this cowardly. It reminds me of medieval reactions to the crossbow, the longbow and gunpowder weapons. Pope Urban II banned the crossbow's use against Christians in 1097 (it was still ok to use them against infidels though ) In the 15th century captured gunners were often hanged for using such base and unchivalerous weapons against their social superiors. But at the end of the day those using the "cowardly" firearm weapons prevailed.

chewy

Seymour Hersh on Domeocarcy now, (only the tv feed worked for me)

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/01/26/1450204

he says he is trying to be optimistic but this was chilling