Drones and Robots The United States military is engaged in a drone program, but we all know that, but many of us when we hear this think of those small drones which could be used to spy on people or the drone planes which are controlled from places like the United States but flown in war torn areas. One of the questions many have asked is do flying these drones, which are sometimes used to bomb people, make the entire function so impersonal it takes away the humanity of the operators? When one looks at the screen and equipment used, it looks just like a video game. This brings up a question in my mind. Have our kids been trained for this job without us realizing it? Did the military realize it was only a matter of time before these drones would become a reality and wanted to start training our youth for the mission? I don’t know about this, but I do know drones of all kinds are appearing everywhere. The United States Navy has been launching drone ships. These unmanned ships travel the oceans of the world. These drones are beginning to be called ghost ships. The actual name the navy uses for them is Ghost Fleet Overlord. When I see things like this coming to pass, I can envision something even more futuristic and that is an aircraft carrier equipped with all drone planes and which is itself a drone. It would have no humans aboard thus cutting down the risk of losing human life if the ship is attacked or even sunk. Of course, it would be a financial disaster. There may come a time when wars are fought not by humans but machines of all different kinds. Is it hard to imagine soldiers being replaced by robots? If an individual robot can be controlled by a human, it seems that would be more efficient that having a human soldier on the field. First of all, medics would not be needed and soldiers would not have to risk their lives for other wounded soldiers. More risks could be taken which a soldier would not be in the position to do. Bombs could be implanted onto the robot soldier so if it is captured, it could be exploded destroying the enemy robots or soldiers. If the robots were sufficiently armored, they would be less likely to be taken down by enemy fire. I believe it is just a matter of time before this happens. If robots were used, they wouldn’t have to sleep or eat and would be always ready. The biggest problem would be how to power them. Would they have rechargeable batteries? This is not such a good idea unless the batteries could last days between charges. The best way to keep them going might be with some form of nuclear battery. The Russians claimed a few years back they had invented a nuclear battery which could be scaled up to a much bigger size. Drone tanks and submarines are also on our list. The M5 Ripsaw might become the first drone tank. The U.S. Army wants a robotic tank as an addition to its conventional tank force. The tank also carries two flying drones. It is equipped with an automatic cannon. The Ripsaw can travel at 60 miles per hour. This is very fast for a tank. It is a small vehicle as tanks go, but if it works out the system could easily be installed in a much larger and heavier vehicle. The cannon is a 30 millimeter Mk. 44 Bushmaster II autocannon and the cannon is also used on the Zumwalt-class destroyers and on one of our gunships, so it has proved itself. The cannon is effective against troops and lightly armored vehicles. The tank can be fitted with missiles capable of destroying heavily armored tanks. It is able to carry the SUGV unmanned ground vehicle which can climb stairs and peek around buildings. The United States has at least one drone submarine, it is the Boeing Orca. A high ranking naval officer said it would be perfect for laying mines. The officer also proposed the sub should have a mine in the nose which would allow it to become a mine itself if necessary. The ship could also become a torpedo. Laying mines is extremely dangerous and this would take the danger to humans out of the equation. These subs could also have more uses than just mine laying. Spying could be one of them. They could sit on the bottom of the ocean for very long periods of time off the shores of enemy countries and warn us when ships come out and maybe even intercept transmissions. The Orca submarine drone can be up to 85 feet in length, but this is just the start. Picture nuclear powered submarines carrying missiles without anyone on board. This could be the future. Not everything the military has which are drones will look like weapons. There is a vast program developing drone birds, animals and even drone fish and insects. It is becoming impossible to know when you are being spied upon. There could be one blackbird in a group which is sitting in a tree with hundreds of other blackbirds, which is not a blackbird at all. It is a masterful copy of a blackbird which is designed so well, no one could tell it from a real bird. It could be equipped with a tiny camera and microphone and be listening to everything you do or say and sending the information to a station somewhere. Maybe you are out on a picnic, and enjoying a conversation with someone and there is a group of ants nearby and you think nothing of it, but you should. You should because they are not all ants, because one is a robot ant which is equipped with nanometer electronics and is checking you out. Lately some people in China have accused the government of launching robotic birds to spy on them. I don’t know if this is true or not, but it is certainly possible. These same robotic birds might be capable of assassinations. Think of this, you see a robotic bird and you think oh it is just a bird when suddenly it flies at you injecting you with a deadly poison. Who knows how many people could be killed this way? Perhaps hundreds of these birds or maybe thousands could be sent out to a battlefield and attack soldiers. We are living at the dawn of the age of robots and drones. We knew it would come and it is here.
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