http://www.france24.com/en/20090813-us-military-embraces-robot-revolution


Thursday, August 13, 2009 - 03:01
AFP News Briefs List

US military embraces robot 'revolution' by Dan De Luce
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Robots in the sky and on the ground are transforming warfare, and the US military is rushing to recruit the new warriors that never sleep and never bleed.
The latest robotics were on display at an industry show this week at a naval airfield in Maryland, with a pilotless helicopter buzzing overhead and a "Wall-E" look-alike robot on the ground craning its neck to peer into a window.


Controlled by on the ground by operators with a joy stick, unmanned robots and aerial vehicles are used by the militaries worldwide to conduct surveillance and drop bombs. Developers demonstrate the latest models at a Maryland military aircraft test site. Duration: 01:51

The chopper, the MQ-8B Fire Scout, is no tentative experiment and later this year will be operating from a naval frigate, the USS McInerney, to help track drug traffickers in the eastern Pacific Ocean, Navy officers said.


A Northrop Grumman MQ-8B Fire Scout is seen on display during the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) demonstration day at Naval Air Station Pax River Webster Field Annex in St. Inigoes, Maryland, on August 10.

The rugged little robot searching an enemy building is called a Pakbot, which can climb over rocks with tank treads, pick up an explosive with its mechanical arm and dismantle it while a soldier directs the machine from a safe distance.


L3 Communications' Mobius, Optionally piloted Aircraft System, flies by during the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) demonstration day at Naval Air Station Pax River Webster Field Annex in St. Inigoes, Maryland, on August 10.

There are already 2,500 of them on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a lighter version weighing six kilograms (14 pounds) has arrived that can be carried in a backpack, according to iRobot, the same company that sells a robot vaccum to civilians, the Roomba.
Monday's demonstration of robotic wonders was organized by defense contractors and the US Navy, which says it wants to lead the
American military into a new age where tedious or high-risk jobs are handed over to robots.

"I think we're at the beginning of an unmanned revolution," Gary Kessler, who oversees unmanned aviation programs for the US Navy and
Marines, told AFP.

"We're spending billions of dollars on unmanned systems."

Kessler and other Pentagon officials compare the robots to the introduction of the aircraft or the tank, a new technology that dramatically changes strategy and tactics.


A prototype of the X-47B Navy Unmannded Combat Air System (UCAS) sits on diplay at Naval Air Station Pax River Webster Field Annex in St. Inigoes, Maryland, on August 10. The X-47B, made by Northrop Grumman Corporation, is to demonstrate the first-ever carrier-based autonomous launches and recoveries.

Robots or "unmanned systems" are now deployed by the thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan, spying from the sky for hours on end, searching for booby-traps and firing lethal missiles without putting US soldiers at risk.

The use of robotics in the military has exploded in the past several years as technology has advanced while Washington faced a new kind of enemy that required patient, precise surveillance.

In 2003, the US military had almost no robots in its arsenal but now has 7,000 unmanned aircraft and at least 10,000 ground vehicles.

The US Air Force, which initially resisted the idea of pilotless planes, said it trains more operators for unmanned aircraft than pilots for its fighter jets and bombers.

Peter Singer, author of "Wired for War," writes that future wars may see tens of thousands of unmanned vehicles in action, possibly facing off against fleets of enemy robots.

Unlike expensive weapons from the Cold War-era, robotic vehicles are not off-limits to countries with modest defense budgets and dozens of governments are investing in unmanned programs.

At the trade show, military officers from the United States, Chile, Australia, Saudi Arabia and India listened to defense contractors promote their robotic vehicles, including a tiny helicopter about two-feet long and L3's Mobius -- a nimble medium-sized drone that reaches speeds of up to 215 knots.

The technology may sometimes resemble something out of "Star Wars" or a toy shop, but the robots determine matters of life and death on the battlefront.

In the fight against Al-Qaeda, drones are Washington's favored weapon.
Predator and Reaper aircraft, armed with precision-guided bombs and Hellfire missiles, regularly carry out strikes in Pakistan's northwest tribal area, causing an unknown number of civilian casualties.

Last week, a drone strike is believed to have have killed the Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.

The unmanned aircraft in the US military's inventory range from small Ravens, that can be tossed into the air to see over the next hill, to the giant Global Hawk, a 44-foot-long spy plane that can fly at high altitude for up to 35 hours.

The drones and ground vehicles are often operated using joysticks or consoles familiar to a younger generation raised on video games.
"Soldiers these days have a lot of experience playing video games when they're growing up, and they're really familiar with these controls. So this really reduces the training time on these types of unmanned vehicles," said Charlie Vaida of iRobot, which makes a game console for the Pakbot.

Amid plans for unmanned bomber jets for aircraft carriers, the onslaught of drones could eventually render fighter aces a relic of history.

Military officers insist the robots are a complement and not a substitute for traditional aircraft, and pose no threat to the careers of their fellow pilots.

"I think they understand we're not going to replace them," said Captain Tim Dunnigan, a navy chopper pilot. "This is going to augment them."

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After reading a lot about it, play games , and watch sci fi movies about it...

 i come to conclude that..robot is the future...

 Less infantry needed..less resource used...

Combat will be easier to win...and war can be easily defined....

have a better endurance, did not affect by weather, dont need to eat or

sleep...perfect war symphony...

 

but of Course one Drop of EMP changes all that...

Counting times till Imam Mahadi to show,and
Isa A.S. to came to earth...

Count your day Jews..

After reading a lot about it, play games , and watch sci fi movies about it...

 i come to conclude that..robot is the future...

 Less infantry needed..less resource used...

Combat will be easier to win...and war can be easily defined....

have a better endurance, did not affect by weather, dont need to eat or

sleep...perfect war symphony...

 

but of Course one Drop of EMP changes all that...

Counting times till Imam Mahadi to show,and
Isa A.S. to came to earth...

Count your day Jews..

I don't think unmanned vehicles will ever totally replace manned vehicles! They'll just be used for the very risky missions, then the manned vehicles can be sent in. Especially if all the unmanned vehicles are somwhow knocked out, we need backup for emergencies. UAV fighters will be good additions to manned jet fighter pilots, as well. They'll be sent in to fire from different angles to distract enemy fighters, while the pilot sets up a kill shot, etc. etc.

A lot of new options open with unmanned vehicles, but never should we ever think to not have manned vehicles again. That'd be a big mistake, imo, and not one to learn during a big war.

---

"We should not forget that the spark which ignited the American Revolution was caused by the British attempt to confiscate the firearms of the colonists."
- Patrick Henry -

Ron Paul Library <-=+=+=+=-> Ron Paul Archives

"Gun control has cleared the way for seven major genocides since 1915, in which governments gone bad murdered 56,000,000 persons, including millions of children."
- Aaron Zelman of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership -

"That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state, therefore, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power."
- Virginia Bill of Rights -

Although unmanned aerial combat vehicles would certainly be able to maneuver beyond the limitations a manned aircraft would be able to (G-Force on the pilot), I don't think a set of real human eyes in the air (or on the ground) could ever be replaced.

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"Las Malvinas fueron, son y serán Argentinas"

A Machine may be a good but not a better option as compared to a human

For a machine can never make the right choice at the right time except what is programmed inside

A machine won't know when to fall back to fight another day or when to forget the wounds and gather your courage and stand up against all incomings....



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"A Machine may be a good but not a better option as compared to a human

For a machine can never make the right choice at the right time except what is programmed inside

A machine won't know when to fall back to fight another day or when to forget the wounds and gather your courage and stand up against all incomings....
"

2 things:
1. these machines are controlled by people
2. they don't get 'wounded' and don't need to 'gather up courage.' they're expendable.