Military Robots

[Shrykull]

Right now we have very primitive ones. I saw a mechanical fly once used as a spy camera, but I'm not how far it can go, where it can be controlled from.

How long before we can make a working T-101 terminator? I wonder how advanced chips would have to get, never mind the organic covering.

Do they even have yet planes and tanks you could remote control from a simulator at a military base. I wonder how hard it would be to interfere with the signal connecting those vehicles to the simulators.

[PeZook]

How long before we can make a working T-101 terminator? I wonder how advanced chips would have to get, never mind the organic covering.

The question is: Why bother?
There's many ways of transportation that are superior to walking.Mass-produced killer fly-robots equipped with poisonous stings would probably work much better than any human-sized Terminator.

Do they even have yet planes and tanks you could remote control from a simulator at a military base. I wonder how hard it would be to interfere with the signal connecting those vehicles to the simulators.

Yes on the first and yes on the second. Granted, the second pic isn't exactly a full-sized armored vehicle, but there's nothing preventing us from making one. It won't be practical right now, though.

As for the signal jamming, not very. If you have the proper equipment, that is, which pretty much discounts everyone but western armies, Japan, Russia, China and maybe India.

[Shrykull]

[quote]The question is: Why bother?
There's many ways of transportation that are superior to walking.Mass-produced killer fly-robots equipped with poisonous stings would probably work much better than any human-sized Terminator.

I suppose that would work against any human not totally covered with armor, or inside a building where those couldn't get to him, unless they could eat through buildings/go through the air vents to get there instead. What about using an EMP to kill swarms of those flying robot insects?

[PeZook]

I suppose that would work against any human not totally covered with armor, or inside a building where those couldn't get to him, unless they could eat through buildings/go through the air vents to get there instead. What about using an EMP to kill swarms of those flying robot insects?

Covering a human by armor is impractical at our current level of technology - obviously, it won't work if technology allows for fully sealed armor.

As for EMP - what would prevent the Terminators from being fried by it, too?

You can just send another insect swarm, but Terminators would be much more expensive by necessity.

Current robots have far funnier limitations, though. IIRC, some Iraqi insurgents counter robots by throwing blankets over them

[Shrykull]

I suppose that would work against any human not totally covered with armor, or inside a building where those couldn't get to him, unless they could eat through buildings/go through the air vents to get there instead. What about using an EMP to kill swarms of those flying robot insects?

Covering a human by armor is impractical at our current level of technology - obviously, it won't work if technology allows for fully sealed armor.

As for EMP - what would prevent the Terminators from being fried by it, too?

You can just send another insect swarm, but Terminators would be much more expensive by necessity.

Current robots have far funnier limitations, though. IIRC, some Iraqi insurgents counter robots by throwing blankets over them

I didn't say the terminators wouldn't be vulnerable, what about vehicles equipped with EMP that can't be stung also?

[PeZook]

I didn't say the terminators wouldn't be vulnerable, what about vehicles equipped with EMP that can't be stung also?

They'd get pasted by missile-carrying aerial drones or autonomous "mobile mines", obviously. I never postulated the insect swarm as anything but a part of a well-rounded robot using force

[Stuart]

Do they even have yet planes and tanks you could remote control from a simulator at a military base. I wonder how hard it would be to interfere with the signal connecting those vehicles to the simulators.

Yes, such equipment is in service. There are quite serious problems though. One is the one you point at, the communications and control links are vulnerable and can be either blanketed out (barrage jamming) or infiltrated and corrupted (deception jamming). This doesn't have to be hostile action, there have been several cases of UAVs being lost due to unanticipated electronic interference corrupting command links.

More seriously, the present generation of datalinks and command systems can't handle the workload of an intense combat environment, the system starts to slow down and the control inputs get behind the tactical situation. That either results in the drone going out of control and crashing or getting shot down. At the moment, we can't do real combat by remote control (its been tried; prior to OIF several Predator flights consisted of a recon Predator escorted by one carrying a couple of Stinger missiles; it didn't work very well.)

[Starglider]

One is the one you point at, the communications and control links are vulnerable and can be either blanketed out (barrage jamming) or infiltrated and corrupted (deception jamming).

A mission statement for a small cheap HARM, to be carried en masse by tactical aircraft and used to take out jammers as they go active?

[Molyneux]

The question is: Why bother?
There's many ways of transportation that are superior to walking.Mass-produced killer fly-robots equipped with poisonous stings would probably work much better than any human-sized Terminator.

When we have that, we'll just need a cyborg Aburame Shino...

[Singular Intellect]

The only plausible reason I could think of for creating humanoid 'Terminator' robots would be to insert them into military forces where the vast majority of the equipment and technology was designed to be operated by humanoid forms.

[Kanastrous]

And maybe the demoralizing effect on the enemy, of facing a horde of shiny chrome killing machines that resemble the Governor of California...

[Admiral Valdemar]

A mission statement for a small cheap HARM, to be carried en masse by tactical aircraft and used to take out jammers as they go active?

Hey, forget about that R/C crap. You're supposed to be giving us AIs that can operate regardless of jamming.

Though a smaller anti-radiation missile for UCAVs to deal with any interruption in their service would be handy, HARM or ALARM.

[Dooey Jo]

How long before we can make a working T-101 terminator?

About 90 years or so, when the copyright has expired.

[Seggybop]

How long before we can make a working T-101 terminator? I wonder how advanced chips would have to get, never mind the organic covering.

The question is: Why bother?
There's many ways of transportation that are superior to walking.Mass-produced killer fly-robots equipped with poisonous stings would probably work much better than any human-sized Terminator.

One thing that would make android soldiers useful is the way they could act as direct replacements for human soldiers. Humans could sit in a safe base somewhere and remotely control robot soldiers FPS-style, with all of the versatility of human ground troops but none of the risk. That's assuming the signal jamming issues are worked out.

[Stuart]

A mission statement for a small cheap HARM, to be carried en masse by tactical aircraft and used to take out jammers as they go active?

Right on! (there isn't an emoticon for a grin big enough) AGM-122 was a first step along that road but it's still too big and heavy (which was why AGM-122B was cancelled.

[Admiral Valdemar]

I'd rather have a wild weasel micro-UCAV swarm carrying micro-sized ALARM analogues.

Or for an easier win, just air burst a nuke. Or a dozen.

[Lord of the Abyss]

And maybe the demoralizing effect on the enemy, of facing a horde of shiny chrome killing machines that resemble the Governor of California...

It reminds me of a scene in one of Simon Green's books, where the protagonists were up against killer robots that were "shaped like a man, because they were more frightening that way". Razor fingers may be less efficient than guns, but they are certainly scary. Guns don't drip with blood.

Whether or not it's a good idea, I could see some future military fielding some humanoid robots for psychological reasons. Either to be more, or less scary, for example, depending on how they look.

Also, as mentioned, a humanoid bot would be suited for human teleoperation; especially if it's as agile as a man and not just shaped like one.

[PeZook]

It reminds me of a scene in one of Simon Green's books, where the protagonists were up against killer robots that were "shaped like a man, because they were more frightening that way". Razor fingers may be less efficient than guns, but they are certainly scary. Guns don't drip with blood.

To be honest, a human-like head an a treaded body would be just as scary.

Although I suspect that one way or another the psychological effects wouldn't be as profound as you'd suspect. Some people can get used to being under artillery fire for days on end, and that's far worse, because you can't really do anything about artillery, while shooting a claw-handed robot is as simple as pulling the trigger of an appropriate weapon.

Also, as mentioned, a humanoid bot would be suited for human teleoperation; especially if it's as agile as a man and not just shaped like one.

The big "if" is that bit about "working out transmission problems". It's just not doable - it'd probably be easier to develop autonomous AI for the drones.

[Sea Skimmer]

I'd rather have a wild weasel micro-UCAV swarm carrying micro-sized ALARM analogues.

Or for an easier win, just air burst a nuke. Or a dozen.

I don’t see the point to using an ALARM like missile. ALARM zooms up in the air and then descends on a parachute, so it has a loitering effect. That made sense since the RAF could not afford dedicated wild weasels to play with the SAM sites. If you have UAV that’s already a dedicated wild weasel, then the UAV can do the loiter job, you want a weapon like HARM which emphasis maximum speed of response once an enemy radar or jammer becomes active.I do wonder how fast HARM really is, clearly a good deal more then ‘Mach 2+” which is its official rating.


Nukes work nicely, an anti radar homing version of SRAM was proposed, but it wasn’t really needed, since with a 200kt warhead the bomber crew needed only to loft the normal INS guided version into the general area of the emitter.