The Pentagon aims to robotise 15% of US armed forces by 2015

US Air Force Prepares Drones to End Era of Fighter Pilots
The Pentagon aims to robotise 15% of US armed forces by 2015

by Edward Helmore

As part of an expanding programme of battlefield automation, the US Air Force has said it is now training more drone operators than fighter and bomber pilots and signaled the end of the era of the fighter pilot is in sight.

In a controversial shift in military thinking - one encouraged by the now-confirmed death of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud in a drone-strike on 5 August - the US air force is looking to hugely expand its fleet of unmanned aircraft by 2047.

Just three years ago, the service was able to fly just 12 drones at a time; now it can fly more than 50. At a trade conference outside Washington last week, military contractors presented a future vision in which pilotless drones serve as fighters, bombers and transports, even automatic mini-drones programmed to attack in swarms.

Contractors made presentations for "nano-size" drones the size of moths that can flit into buildings to gather intelligence; drone helicopters; large aircraft that could be used as strategic bombers and new mid-sized drones could act as jet fighters.

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Some 5,000 robotic vehicles and drones are now deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. By 2015, the Pentagon's $230bn arms procurement programme Future Combat Systems expects to robotise around 15% of America's armed forces. In a recently published study, The Unmanned Aircraft System Flight Plan 2020-2047, air force generals predicted a boom in drone funding to $55bn by 2020 with the most exotic changes coming in the 2040s.

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http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/08/23-0

their party members.

Lt. Scheisskopf lives!

possibly conceive, in any way at all, how this could end badly. :sarcasm:

The wars of the future will not be fought on the battlefield or at sea. They will be fought in space, or possibly on top of a very tall mountain. In either case, most of the actual fighting will be done by small robots. And as you go forth today remember always your duty is clear: To build and maintain those robots.



Personally I think it is a mixed blessing. On one hand that means fewer military casualties, and investments in robotics will benefit virtually every area of life the same way the internet was started as a military investment but eventually benefited every area of life that wasn't military related.

However I think we might become more warlike if their side loses civilians and soldiers, and ours only loses robots. The negative consequences of war won't exist for us, but will still exist for our enemies. So the US public may become more warlike. This happened a bit with Iraq, because Iraq was paid for with borrowed money and only involved a small % of the population doing the fighting (maybe 0.16% of the population has served in Iraq, vs about 10% in WW2, which was paid for with higher taxes).

I cannot possibly think of a word that is more contradictory to this than blessing.

Your point regarding making the US public more warlike is not unrealistic; many of us are already so desensitized to the pain and suffering being inflicted elsewhere that removing more of the same for us will send us further into unreality. At least there are already signs of ptsd among the operators who send out the drones..."thankfully" for now they maintain their humanity...it will be a sad day indeed when any of that's gone...

The Terminator:Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.
Sarah Connor: Skynet fights back.
The Terminator: Yes. It launches its missiles against the targets in Russia.
John Connor: Why attack Russia? Aren't they our friends now?
The Terminator: Because Skynet knows the Russian counter-attack will eliminate its enemies over here

Don't say I didn't warn ya! :popcorn:

Watch for actions in Syracuse NY soon, heads up...