Drone wars: Pentagon's future with robots, troops

Regarding the importance of military robots, for instance, the Pentagon's Dyke Weatherington explained, "Combatant commanders and warfighters place value in the inherent features of unmanned systems -- especially their persistence, versatility, and reduced risk to human life."

On that last point, of course, Weatherington is only thinking about American military personnel and American lives. Tomorrow's drone warfare will likely mean "more" in one other area: more dead civilians. We've left behind the fiction of Hollywood for a less high-tech but distinctly dystopian reality. It isn't quite the movies and it isn't what the Pentagon mapped out, but it indisputably provides a clear path to a grim and grimy Terminator Planet.

Nick Turse is the associate editor of TomDispatch.com. An award-winning journalist, his work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Nation, and regularly at TomDispatch. He is the author/editor of several books, including the just published "Terminator Planet: The First History of Drone Warfare, 2001-2050" (with Tom Engelhardt). This piece is the latest article in his new series on the changing face of American empire, which is being underwritten by Lannan Foundation. This piece originally appeared on TomDispatch. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

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[sjc_1]

Once it is all robots, countries can just compare GDP and net worth, then say in simulations we would have out spent you and won the war. So let's not go to war, save the money and use it to help people...makes sense to me.

[KristopherWalken]

Dude, that's not going to ******* happen.
Seriously, did you even read your comment before posting it?

Why does everyone assume drones are some sort of panacea for all conflict? Tanks never made actual soldiers obsolete, and the invention of the airplane didn't make ships useless.

The idea that we'll win future wars by mere droning is a ridiculous and somewhat dangerous. But you're idea that drones will end war, is just silly and almost childlike.

[TimeToEvolve]

We have become the terrorists we were trying to defeat. But hey they are our terrorists so they are OK.

[tmittelstaed]

Everyone seems to think that drones are going to work perfectly. Yeah, right. You don't know squat about weapons. The more complex they are the easier it is to screw them up. Sure, unmanned weapons have a place. But the oil pipeline interdiction scenario has so many places to go wrong that it's laughable, starting with "...one recently stolen and acquired by rebel antigovernment forces..." Sure, like people don't put passwords on their stuff. Please - today I can remotely wipe an iPhone that was solen out of one of my user's purses. your saying they can't do the same to the welding robot? it's not like they can download the software for it from the Internet.

A much more likely scenario is antigovernment forces steal a welding robot, which they are unable to activate, finally in frustration they dump it in the hold of the ship, whereupon 2 hours later the robot recieves a series of remote commands which turn it on and cause it to open the valves on it's welding gas tanks, wait until the hold is full of flammable gas, then strike an arc. Ship explodes, end of story.

High technology weapons depend on key components. Such as specific kinds of microprocessors and other components. These are parts that are very easy to control the source of because few people make them and most people are content to buy them from someone else.

[ddaryl1]

it will only take a small amount of willing soldiers to control massive amounts of robotic armies...

Why do you think this nation is under attack by big money interests. Big money knows if they control the USA's military they control the world.

step one pervert and sew the seeds of distrust in the Government. step two Get the people spun up and divided on social issues, let them war it out and bring down the government, then BIG MONEY can fill the void of failed government and a new reign of world terror will be born.

[bigmanfrommaine]

Once we develop a new weapons system, we will face that weapon in future conflicts. We never seem to learn the lesson that weapons unleashed onto the world always come back to bite us in the ass.

[rightbehind]

The US is not a war zone. We don't need or want local politicians and their nephew billy bob spying on us. They can find billions for garbage like this but we can't find money for teachers and to educate our kids.

[John782011]

Unfortunately the lethality of some drones decrease the probability of conflicts escilating from political scirmishes to armed strikes. This is because the attacking country has less restrictions as the attack will not place its people at risk. If the population back home does not see its troops coming home in body bags, it can support the conflict without feeling the pain. While it may seem advantageous to the military planner, it is not advantageous to the idea of reducing conflict or deterence.

[truthforhumanity]

Think drones won't be used against the American public? Think again.

[rightbehind]

The wealthy know a small military will be easier to control. The more robots the better in their minds. I was reading an article that said a bill is in congress that would "allow" the military to lie to the US public. The people of Egypt and Libia probably never thought their own military would be used against them. The Bush adminstration "removed" Posse Comitatus law that protected US citizens from our own military. The democrats restored it when they took back control of congress.