During the Iraq invasion in 2003 the US Armed Forces inventory numbered just a few unmanned devices, none of them armed, none on the ground. A dozen years have passed. Now it has 7000 robots in the air and over 12,000 on the ground. US military policy documents reflect clear plans to increase the autonomy of weapons systems. In its Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap FY2011-2036 (1), the US Department of Defense (DoD) wrote that it “envisions unmanned systems seamlessly operating with manned systems while gradually reducing the degree of human control and decision making required for the unmanned portion of the force structure.” The Joint Robotics Program Master Plan (JRPMP) is prepared annually and provided to Congress to lay out the strategies for acquiring first-generation UGVs and for developing technologies critical to follow – on systems. It describes the individual projects and the management framework for their execution. The army has its own robotic roadmap out to 2035 (2) which plans for everything from tiny micro-drones to unmanned versions of heavy attack helicopter. A 2004 US Navy planning document on unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) stated, “While admittedly futuristic in vision, one can conceive of scenarios where UUVs sense, track, identify, target, and destroy an enemy—all autonomously”(3). According to the US Air Force, “humans will no longer be ‘in the loop’ but rather ‘on the loop’ monitoring the execution of certain decisions. Simultaneously, advances in artificial intelligence will enable systems to make combat decisions and act within legal and policy constraints without necessarily requiring human input” (4).
And it’s not just the U.S. Over 40 countries are also using military robotics from Britain and Japan to China, India, Russia, Pakistan, and Iran. For instance, According to the Guardian (5), the International Institute for Strategic Studies identifies 56 different types of UAVs used in 11 different countries. Iran claims to have successfully tested a long-range combat drone called the Karrar in 2010. According to Tehran, the aircraft has a range of 1,000 kilometers – which puts it within striking range of Israel. In June this year an Iran-produced unmanned aerial vehicle launched by Hezbollah was shot down in Israel. According to the Pakistan Today issue that saw light on November 20, 2012 “Pakistan is secretly racing to develop its own unmanned aircraft but is struggling in its initial tests with a lack of precision munitions and advanced targeting technology” (6). Russia answers with the program of its own, for instance MRK-27 BT caterpillar tracked remotely controlled unmanned armored vehicle has been demonstrated at many exhibitions. There are other breakthroughs in Russia as well. China is applying intensive efforts to make progress too. P.W. Singer, the author of "Wired for War," a book about the revolution in military robotics, said "The market for military robotics has gone global, and China is looking to be a major producer and exporter in that market, just like the U.S.” In November 2010 Western defense officials and experts were taken by surprise when at least 25 Chinese drone models were on display at an air show in south China. Several models were also shown at an exhibition of police and antiterrorism equipment in Beijing in May 2011.
These are modern warfare changers and they’re just the start. The conduct of war is being transformed. The robotics research is nearing the stage when the military may be able to deploy large ground vehicles capable of performing tasks on their own with little human involvement. For instance, converting trucks into unmanned vehicles reduces the requirement for thick armor plating that, in turn, increases weight and fuel consumption.
The ranks of battlefield robots will only grow: The U.S. Congress has mandated that by the year 2015, one-third ground combat vehicles will be unmanned, and the Department of Defense (DOD) is now developing a multitude of unmanned systems that it intends to rapidly field. Meanwhile, thousands of robotics researchers worldwide are making impressive gains in networking robots and boosting the sophistication and autonomy of these systems.
Today military robots are found in just about every environment: land, sea, air, and even outer space. They have a full range of form-factors from tiny robots that look like insects to aerial drones with wingspans greater than a modern airliner. Some have fully-auto modes and can make their own targeting and attack decisions. There's interesting work going on with microrobots, swarm robots, humanoids, chemical bots, and biological-machine integrations. Some believe the future of modern warfare will be fought by automated weapons systems. It is expected that by 2025 the battlefield will be a hybrid blend of soldier and cyborg robot.
Directions of development
The most prominent system currently in use is the unmanned aerial vehicle which can be armed with air-to-ground missiles. The Pentagon asked Congress to allocate nearly $5 billion for aerial drones in the 2012 budget. From blimps to bugs, aerial drones are transforming military practice and vision. The remotely piloted aircraft is the most effective weapon against Al Qaeda used to transmit live video from Afghanistan and Pakistan to American forces and to carry out air strikes. It’s not fighting enemies overseas only. According to government plans tens of thousands of drones will be deployed over the US mainland in the near future. An investigative report published this June by the Christian Science Monitor cited the government’s own estimates that “as many as 30,000 drones could be part of intelligence gathering and law enforcement here in the United States within the next ten years.”
Aerial robots vary in size from the four-pound RQ-11B Raven surveillance drone, which can be launched by hand, to the giant MQ-9 Reaper combat drone with ordnance payload exceeding 1 300 kg. The MQ-1 Predator, armed with 100-pound Hellfire missiles, is the favored weapon to kill terrorist leaders. With a push of a button, thousands of pounds of high explosives can be dropped on anyone, anywhere in the world, with startling precision. An April Department of Defense report, titled “Future Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training, Operations, and Sustainability,” reveals that a massive aerial drone infrastructure is already being erected within the US.
The US Department of Defense is expanding its robotics research with new initiatives to develop machines that can drive, climb, extinguish fires, or perform other automated tasks. The ultimate goal includes using robots in dangerous situations that would otherwise put U.S. soldiers at risk. The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) is offering a $2 million prize to build a robot capable of using human tools and navigating disaster-response scenarios. Contestant robots will be required to travel across rubble, remove debris from a blocked entryway and climb a ladder, for example. A previous DARPA challenge produced several automobiles that were capable of driving themselves. And a four-legged robot called Cheetah, developed by Boston Dynamics with DARPA funding, recently achieved a galloping speed of up to 18 miles per hour, a new record for legged robots. The new Naval Research Laboratory facility will be used to develop robots for use by the Navy, Marines, and other branches of the DOD. Its work is consistent with the National Robotics Initiative, a federal effort to develop robots to help solve problems in defense, space, health, and manufacturing. The army has begun testing Boston Dynamic's RHex – a six-legged, over 10 kg crawling robot inspired by the cockroach – in Afghanistan. With its sealed body, RHex can climb in rock fields, mud, sand, and vegetation, across railroad tracks, up telephone poles, slopes, and stairways. It is controlled remotely at distances up to 700 meters, and infa-red cameras and illuminators provide front and rear views. The Sand Flea insect-inspired robot is also deployed to Afghanistan for testing. This rolling machine can jump up to 10 meters high, over walls or onto rooftops. It weighs around 5 kg and can jump 25 times per battery charge.
The most common robots currently in use by the military on the ground are small, flat machines mounted on miniature tank treads able to tackle almost any terrain. Originally it was designed for the disposal of live grenades and other dangerous explosives, now they a variety of sensors built, including audio and video surveillance and chemical detection. All of them are guns, grenade launchers and anti-tank rocket launchers capable machines. The Packbot is designed to fit into the U.S. Army's new standard pack and can be tossed into hostile buildings to search terrorists and enemy combatants. The robots equipment includes a mechanical arm.
Larger military robots are basically trucks or tanks with computers in them, operated by remote control. They can handle many heavy-duty tasks, such as clearing out explosives with a mechanical arm, clearing and cutting obstacles down with a plow blade or a giant cutter, pulling disabled vehicles, hauling cargo in a trailer and serving as a weapons platform. This robot can roll along with a mine-sweeper attached to the front, clearing a field of anti-personnel mines before any human soldiers walk there. The Robotic Armored Assault System (RAAS) and the Armed Robotic Vehicle (ARV) are both in development by the U.S. military. These are large-scale robots (ARV will weigh 5 to 6 tons) capable of carrying up to 1 ton of payload. Potential weapons to be mounted on these tank-size robots include the 30mm Mk 44 chain gun or a turret system capable of firing Hellfire missiles.
The Pentagon is trying to develop "insect cyborgs" able to sniff out explosives, or "bug" conversations by lurking unseen in enemy hideouts with micro-transmitters strapped to their bodies. It is considering fielding an army of remote-controlled insect spybots as scouts with implanted micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). MEMS technology uses tiny silicon wafers. The technology can actually cut and shape the silicon, turning the chip into a microscopic mechanical device to transform the insects into "predictable devices that can be used for various micro-UAV missions requiring unobtrusive entry into areas inaccessible or hostile to humans."
Naval warfare if not an exclusion from the trend. The most breathtaking development is underwater devices. For instance, the four-foot-long, remotely guided SeaFox submersibles are expected to form a key element of US efforts to counter Iran in case it decides to close the Hormuz Strait. The SeaFox robots will significantly bolster the US military's countermine capability, which was also boosted this month with an announcement that four minesweepers would sail into the Gulf doubling the number to eight. The remotely guided, unmanned submersibles seek out their targets with a homing sonar. When contact is made, the drone explodes upon contact obliterating itself as well as the mine. Another promising underwater project is Proteus, a robotic submarine that saw its first sea trials on Sept. 11, 2012.(5) It is capable of hauling two 100 kg bomblets with room for transporting six Navy special operations servicemen. The estimated range is nautical 900 miles and a top speed of 10 knots. The Navy’s goal is a submergible robot to put in the water and forget about for months, while the robot collects data. As time goes by there is a chance a long-range robotic submarine will substitute submersibles with crews.
Orbital Test Vehicle
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is a reusable unmanned robotic spacecraft. Unlike purely classified programs, the US government acknowledges the X-37's existence and openly discusses the vehicle's design, though officials give only vague answers on the missions it is destined for. The vehicle is a one-quarter the size of a space shuttle orbiter boosted into space by rocket with the ship hidden inside its payload. The vehicle can be launched on comparatively short notice, then stay in low altitude orbits at 30 to 100 km for around nine months.
The likely application for the spaceship is reconnaissance of war zones and foreign strategic sites at reach low-inclination orbits. There are suggestions the OTV might deploy and retrieve miniature satellites or rendezvous with another spacecraft to demonstrate orbital inspection and repair techniques. So far the US Department of Defense has denied claims that the X-37B's mission supports the development of space-based weapons, but its hard to believe – there is nothing to prevent it from attacking any target on the Earth in a few hours and carry out operations against other countries satellites and aircraft. Some military experts call it “the first prototype space fighter." For instance, the X-37B may strike or interfere with satellites with a robotic arm for seizing space objects. It can spread electromagnetic interference and disable a satellite’s normal functions, as well as launch missiles toward the earth's surface. In short, it’s a platform for many functions. This project has a clear military purpose and may further exacerbate the militarization of space. It has direct relation to the contentious missile defense issue that is aggravating bilateral relations between the US and Russia. The ability to hover and use high-precision weapons against surface targets makes adds it to the list of potential (or real) killing elements of the ballistic missile defense.
Conclusion
The growing reliance on robots has altered contemporary warfare. And it has its implications to address. Traditional rules of engagement stipulate that a human must decide if a weapon is to be fired. As robots become more autonomous, the task becomes too difficult. The trend is to automate robots so they can shoot before being shot at. Some vehicles already operate without human operators to save precious seconds. Robots making critical decisions on their own may jolly well be a near future reality. Practice shows there is a danger of collateral damage. Another threat is the possibility of drones being hacked. An aspiration to gain a technological edge is fraught with security risks. Isn’t it an issue to address like it is done in the case of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction? Bolstering the robotization of Armed Forces and even bringing it into space, the US must understand and respond to the safety concerns of Russia, China and the many nations of the world. In April 2010, the US Administration released its Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), saying it seeks to achieve President Obama's vision of a nuclear weapon free world. As one can see nuclear arms is not the only global security issue. New weapons systems emerge with unpredictable results. Like robots or hypervelocity missiles tested by the US. These new weapons are not covered by any international legal boundaries. It’s not an issue to turn a blind eye on. There is obvious expediency to address it internationally in an urgent manner before it’s too late…
