5 ms·

But I wonder how much resistance you would get from the military, veterans, military families, and so on who make the argument that for every robot we make a hu

• vonmoltke 11y ago
  > On the other hand, do soldiers really want to defend themselves against flying, high-speed IEDs with target-recognition software? I mean, I've seen malfunctioning drones move so fast that I lose sight of them. Does anybody really want to see one of these things come over a compound wall carrying a payload of high explosives, and software for identifying groups of human targets and dodging defensive fire? You basically just described a fire-and-forget missile, which is a technology that has been on the battlefield for over three decades.
  • BFatts 11y ago
    A fire-and-forget missile is a single directional device with minor corrections for targeting. It can't hover, back up, select its own target, avoid return fire, etc. So, no we haven't had this tech for three decades.
    • vonmoltke 11y ago
      > A fire-and-forget missile is a single directional device with minor corrections for targeting. No it isn't. A fire-and-forget missile is a missile capable of dealing with every issue between the launching platform and the target. This much more complex than "minor corrections for targeting". > It can't hover, back up These are a function of a particular propulsion system, not guidance system. The vast majority of non-rotorcraft cannot hover or back up. > select its own target That is exactly what a fire-and-forget weapon does. The firing platform directs the weapon at a particular target to start, but the weapon makes the decision about what to hit. If it loses lock, it tries to reacquire. It does not necessarily reacquire the same target. In fact, you could blindfire most FF weapons and let the seeker pick a target in its path of travel, if you really wanted to. Rules of engagement typically prohibit this, but it is technically feasible. > avoid return fire Evasion is certainly something current weapons are theoretically capable of. It is not typically in the package, though, because it adds cost, size, and weight. Once these systems get to the point that they can be added to drones in a cost-effective manner they will likely be added to single-use weapon systems as well. > So, no we haven't had this tech for three decades. It has been a constant march of progress, but yes we have had weapons that can make targeting decisions for themselves for over three decades. The Mk-48 torpedo[1] has been in service since 1972 and has had since then the ability to travel a predetermined search pattern looking for targets and automatically attacking whatever it finds. The Mk-60 CAPTOR mine has a similar capability to discriminate and engage targets. The RGM-84 Harpoon[3] is launched by providing one or more "legs", then activating the missile's seeker to find and acquire a target; it is not actually fired "at" a particular ship in the conventional sense of the word. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_48_torpedo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_48_torpedo [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_60_CAPTOR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_60_CAPTOR [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpoon_(missile) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpoon_(missile)