Military Revolution: Here Come the Arthrobots

A major transition in military technology is underway, and it's quite possible that it will be as revolutionary in it's impact as tanks, aircraft, and the rifle. Possibly even more revolutionary than metal weapons and armor. I'm talking about the rise of the robots.

Unmanned aerial weapons platforms made their debut in Afghanistan, and their kin have multiplied vastly in Iraq. It is now pretty clear than an unmanned jet fighter or bomber can outperform manned ones, and the twenty-first century combat aircraft will mainly be unmanned - or, at least initially, remotely manned. Unmanned ground vehicles too saw action in Afghanistan and also multiply.

These first steps into military roboworld are somewhat crude variations on existing manned platforms, but much more radical departures are already well into development. Mechanical arthropods are a current favorite. We know that very tiny arthropods are capable of very sophisticated behaviors, despite their tiny brains. Pretty good electromechanical muscles have been developed, and the computational capabilities of a modern microprocessor are, in principle at least, a lot greater than the million times slower arthropod brains. Moreover, nature has already done lots of great design work for us. Small artificial lobsters are already crawling and swimming, and tiny insect-like crawlers and fliers are already under development - or maybe even in test.

My most vivid memory of the movie Minority Report was of the little spider robots that swarmed all over looking for Tom Cruise's baby blues. You can be sure that the same thought made an impression on many military planners and developers.

Major shifts in military technology usually have important social implications. Bronze weapons and armor were so superior to more primitive technologies that a small number of well-equipped soldiers could defeat much larger numbers with more primitive weapons. Because bronze was expensive, only a small number of such warriors could be so equipped. Cheaper and superior iron weapons and armor made possible more soldiers and may have permitted the more democratic social order of Rome and Greece.

The rifle was another powerful social force. Mastery of Greek and Roman style warfare took many years of training, but a rifleman can achieve passable skill in a dozen weeks or so. Consequently, citizen armies largely replaced professional ones. The later tank and aircraft have an opposite effect.

I can't predict much about the implications of the robowarrior, but it seems likely that it could greatly increase the relative power of advanced nations in the short run. Armies of little bots swarming over a village or nation might be safer for combatants and noncombatants than "shock and awe" with bombs and tanks.

And when the computers decide to take over, their armies will be ready.

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