3 ms·
This is the beginning of a long-term trend, from a physically present combat force to an army of remote teleoperators.
by davi 17y ago
This is the beginning of a long-term trend, from a physically present combat force to an army of remote teleoperators.
- radu_floricica 17y agoNope. Fighter planes are a special case because they're both significantly cheaper and with better performance without a pilot on board. I don't see infantry replaced any time soon.
- gaius 17y agoWriter Lewis Page points out that the Infantry are the only branch of the military who can do something other than blow stuff up from a distance. Demand for that type of operation is only going to increase. Meanwhile the UK govt is cutting Infantry battalions and investing 10s of billions of GBP in Eurofighter and Nimrod. Because the Taliban's airforce and submarine fleet are obviously the biggest threats we face... Note also that it's only the USAF who require trained pilots to operate UAVs... Everyone else uses automated landing systems (etc) and regular troops fly them. It's one of the featured jobs in the British Army's recruiting campaign, there's a guy with a handset similar to an Xbox controller scouting ahead of his unit as they patrol.
- WilliamLP 17y agoYes, and after that, we'll have to start teaching ourselves multiplication again, so we can develop a manned plane that can break the stalemate that software will get into:)