Robots are the new face of warfare according to reports stating that 2% of soldiers deployed in Afghanistan are non-human. Wired Magazine cites those reports, suggesting that the armed forces of the future are among us now.
The war of the groundbots
So-called groundbots first began appearing Afghanistan for use as bomb disposal tools. Rather than risking a soldier’s life, the robots would assume the risk of putting enemy ordinance out of commission. Now they are being used as advance scouts for route cleaning and for vehicle checkpoints.
Marine Lt. Col. Dave Thompson, the head of the Marine Corps robotics effort spoke to wired, talking about how robots are saving lives and evolving in new ways on the battlefield. In fact, Thompson said that nearly one-third of the robots being deployed are now for purposes other than bomb disposal.
Although many of the robots deployed perform in roles that are officially classified, the general assumption is that the intelligence of robots is still quite low. Because of this, human soldiers are unlikely to become completely obsolete any time soon. However, with robots being assigned some of the more dangerous tasks on the battlefield, the military is expected to encounter continued reductions in the number of casualties it encounters.
Ground vs. air automation
Wired observes that robotic aerial scouts have been actively deployed for some time now, showing a greater degree of autonomy than their counterparts on the ground. This is reportedly due to the fact that ground conditions are infinitely more complex than those in the air. With a groundbot, every stick and stone is a potential hazard and the intelligence to discern what every object is fast enough to react is still not available.
Because of the lack of autonomy, most of the ground robotics force relies on nearby humans to control them. In other words, wars fought by robots as seen in the movies are still a long way off.
Immeasurable benefits
Although robots deployed in the theater continue to develop new capabilities and higher price tags, the savings in human lives is hard to estimate, but well worth the expense. As technology continues to develop, humans should expect smaller death tolls, something that soldiers and their families is a very good idea.
The Pentagon continues to work to develop the capabilities of its robotic force, and seems to be focusing its developmental efforts on finding ways to help them sense their environment better and react to surrounding conditions without human input.
