Army Deploys Armed Robots in Iraq
The U.S. government is continuing its march towards an all-robot army. The Predator drones, featured heavily in the Afghani campaign, strapped with missiles was just the beginning. The next step are the Special Weapons Observation Remote reconnaissance Direct action Systems, or "SWORDS" robots.
SWORDS are modified bomb disposal robots mounted with M249 light machine guns. The robots were originally declared combat-ready in 2004, but the bomb-disposal robots had this tendency to occasionally spin out of control. Annoying when defusing a bomb, possibly tragic when firing a machine gun.
New safety measures were put in place to prevent the robots from losing control or accidentally firing, and unlocking the weapon is a three-step process of both software and physical safeties.
There are currently three SWORDS roaming Iraq, though the Army will not reveal where. They have yet to fire their weapons, but once they do the SWORDS program manager expects the Army to order more.
As these technological advancements remove more soldiers from harm's way it becomes important to ask: Is removing the human element from war ultimately a good thing? Will removing soldiers from the battlefield make war even less civilized? What will deter countries from fighting if all they stand to lose is some very expensive pieces of technology?
From Engadget and Wired
Related links:
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Anibethc40 @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:57PM
What an intelligent move! I think the Army should have thought of that years ago before they were deployed to Iraq in this illegal war. In fact, Bush should have let an army of robots doing all the fighting. Then I would have approved of that within seconds!
Parker @ Aug 3rd 2007 10:29PM
This is getting out of hand. Robots do not feel, they do not pitty, and they do not belong in wars. As soon as these robots are mass produced we are ending life on earth as we know it. Soon their will be robots replacing other jobs, mailmen, shop keeps, police, millions of hard-working americans will lose out on an income because cheaper more dependable robots who dont have families to feed, etc. All in the name of 'advancement'. The sad thing is, if we do not build these armybots then our enemies will. It is a moral debate that will soon be made political. I'd love to hear others' opinions and would enjoy a good debate.
Steve @ Aug 3rd 2007 10:32PM
So, Ani Beth C, let me see if I have this right. You agree that the war in Iraq is an illegal war, but you think it's alright for us to fight illegal wars as long as we do it with mindless robots that can kill without any risk of American lives. We should just start planting roadside bombs. It would be cheaper and no less illegal.
Ed Jaffie @ Aug 3rd 2007 10:52PM
Could one you know it all's, please explain to me what a legal war looks like. Maybe you meant justifiable war. Of course its only justifiable to one side. And everybody's opinion of justifiable varies. In my opinion only the people who have a direct stake in this war have earned the right to whine. The rest of you enlightened people go back to Starbucks, and drown your sorrows.
haf devil @ Aug 4th 2007 4:32AM
make sure these robots have painted nudies on them so we can offend their religion in the name of allah or whoever. if they can pray five times a day, one nudie pix should persuade them to think otherwise.
Steve @ Aug 4th 2007 9:18AM
Ed, what I get you're saying is that since I haven't been to Iraq, I don't have a right to talk about whether my country should entangle itself in foreign wars. Well, pack sand, Ed. But I mean that in the nicest, double no whip extra foam hazelnut latte sorta way. Before I started going to Starbucks, I spent nine years in the United States Navy Submarine Service, out there swapping paint chips with the Soviets so you could eat your Wheaties and grow up big and strong and have the freedom to one day insult me in an AOL forum. Further, the only time in my life when I DIDN'T have a right to argue about the mission was when I was IN the military, because I had taken an oath to protect and defend the Constitution and obey the lawful orders of the Commander in Chief. But now I'm a General. General Public, and with that title I get back my right to unfettered free speech and to dissent. Although I did earn that right, others who didn't serve in the military are just as entitled to it as I am. WE are The United States of America, and this is a representative democracy - or at least it's supposed to be. This isn't Sparta, where the only people who get a vote are the warrior class. That model didn't work then, it doesn't work now. As far as the definition of a illegal war, it's pretty much one where the Executive branch, aided by certain intelligence agencies, presents the Congress with false intelligence in order to get the votes it needs to ramrod through a War Powers Resolution. Sound familiar? It's been in the newspapers. Perhaps you read about it? It's also known as the Iraq War Resolution. Fer-cryin-out-loud, it's become the punchline to every Bush Admin joke for the last three years... Weapons of Mass Destruction... A Mushroom Cloud... Outing a covert CIA agent to discredit their critics... empaneling a Special Prosecutor who brings charges against Executive branch insiders for leaking the CIA agents identity to the press (a felony, by the way)... which leads to the President pardoning that insider found guilty by a jury of his peers. Hmmm.... maybe it's not a representative democracy after all. Well, I'm off the Starbucks, to Kanoodle with all the other people who think the Iraq war is an illegal war. Geez, maybe that's why they have to keep building more and more and more Starbucks.
carlton wilson @ Aug 4th 2007 10:28AM
Nice! I am also looking forward to the deployment of the Reaper drones(Allah Ach-BOOM!!!!). The Iraq war may or may not have been completely necessary, but the invasion of Iraq was completely LEGAL. After 17 U.N. Security Council Sanctions(all violated by Saddam)Bush had every legal excuse needed to order the invasion and consequent destruction of Saddam and his military(which was totally crushed). WMD's were indeed present prior to the invasion, but with months of advance notice(which Saddam had because time was wasted on diplomacy), me and a couple of buddies could have moved that stuff to Syria using a Uhaul as easy as we could move a warehouse full of widgets from Florida to Georgia. Mortar rounds and artillery shells are easily moved by hand. Enjoy your Lattes...but for God's sake, take it easy on the KOOL-AID.
Steve @ Aug 4th 2007 1:10PM
But then... if, while Saddam's whole country was under intense scrutiny and surveillance - or there was yet another gross lapse in intelligence, it's hard to know which - they secretly moved this imaginary yet extensive collection of WMD's to Syria, then that would put him in compliance... Wouldn't it? I mean, one way or the other, they were gone. Beyond the borders of Iraq. Right? And if all of this activity between Iraq and the border with Syria was going on, why didn't Powell take satelite photos of all those U-Hauls loaded with all of these WMD's when he made his case at the UN? Instead he showed us cartoon pictures of portable gas labs that even our own experts were saying were pretty far fetched. Gosh, there's just something about Neo-Con BS that always escapes me. Hmmm... Maybe it's because it's a philosophy based on the idea that we're the Masters of the Universe and all others shall do our bidding or endure our Shock And Awe, and as such, it doesn't have to be TRUE to be RIGHT. Is that about it? Now you can get Toby Keith to write songs about Unmanned Shock And Awe. Talk about Kool Aid...
Parker @ Aug 4th 2007 10:16PM
WMD's could very well have been and still be in Iraq. Anyone who is sure that WMD's never were in Iraq must also believe that Osama never existed either. Same thing, right? We cant find either of them, so does that mean they arnt there? In answering this question you must realize that Iraq is mainly desert, and that all an intelligent person would have to do was to find a remote spot in this sanbox we call Iraq, and start to dig, then fill the hole with expensive weapons. Once filled all one has to do is record the GPS coordinates and scurry off. It is much easier to hide than to seek.
tom @ Aug 4th 2007 11:22PM
its 2007 and it took us this long to get that wow. these things should at least fly.
hmmmmm if im a bad guy alll u have to do is runnnn... The USA is gonna have to put some sort of stun weapon on it that doesnt killll. cuz people are just gonna run from that thing. The thing should shoot out a net or somthin cuz all you have to do is run and pray no one shoots u.
it cant out runnn me so im runnnningggggg as fast as i can and praying that the guy controliing the thing doesnt shoot a lethal round. all you do is runnnnnnnnn. but its good for houses even then if im a bad guy im still gonna run from the thing so you need a stun gun on it.
so we send are boys to be targets but Now we have this. tobad this wasnt around ten years ago. i mean a radio flyer with a gun on it. or an rc car with a gun on it. we should have ones that fly at least
Allen Prunty @ Aug 5th 2007 2:43PM
Parker... robots do not think either... A soldier is on the other end in full control... a soldier that does not have to die in danger. Without the soldier on the other end the robot does nothing.
Unless you have been there you can never appreciate this.
Redoctober @ Aug 10th 2007 1:45PM
Ehh... This is all well and good, as long as they have a soldier at the end of the line... But if they make these things autonomous, i'll be worried. Really worried. That would be extrremely bad. Because even a dell gets viruses. Why don't they just stuff a R/C with C-4 and drive 'em into buildings?
Tina @ Aug 13th 2007 12:53AM
Dang, maybe this can help us against the war that Hillary Clinton help put us in.
richard nixon @ Aug 13th 2007 4:46AM
well if they get this to the point where it's just robots attacking other robots then i say we make it a sixteen game season with a playoff grid and finally a global bowl to settle the championship and WAR CHINA!!!
ezm3 @ Aug 16th 2007 5:48PM
It already IS too late, Parker - It has been for years, the only way to dodge the technology bullet is to get involved with computers and robotry. We have already seen storefronts close in the wake of internet sales, email replacing the mailman, etc. But what's the worst of it? What few jobs remain are being farmed out to chinese, indian and south american slums so that the fat cats can save a couple of pennies that would've been an Americans paycheck.
J Spencer @ Aug 17th 2007 12:08PM
Bravo, Steve. See you at Starbucks.
p.s. I have a novel in print, "The Pilots," set in SOPAC, WWII. You might like it.
Thumper3rdACR @ Aug 23rd 2007 11:39AM
it may be a little too late for all this. the current iraqi gov. is dominated by shia's, who in turn are iranian puppets. Maliki hates Gen.Petraeus, who wants to arm soldiers of the "Awakening" movements. it will make it harder for the shia to put the sunni's under thier boots if they are armed. the Mahdi must be destroyed, Iranian agents killed or captured and sent to Gitmo. this war was based on lies, we are being bankrupted, our Army and Marine Corps are being gutted by lack of the right equipment to fight a guerilla war. it was a grab for oil $, pro-western gov., infrastructure contracts, and PMC's that had former Generals connected to the Pentagon as leaders. this is the worst thing to happen since Vietnam. actually, its deja vue all over again....
David @ Aug 24th 2007 7:44AM
Well! With the advent of mechanization in wars in the first world war; does this surprize anyone that finally someone would invent a machine that fights like a soldier? The day they flew those planes into the trade center buildings was the day they declared war on America! It was an act of war declared by the islamic peoples on the American people; they support terorists and it was terrorists that did it. So what's so illegal about this war? Their all damned lucky that i wasn't President of the U.S. that day! There would be no Iraq, Syria, Iran or any other islamic state to fret about; poof! Gone and gladly forgotten! Good riddence to bad rubbish! OH! What about their women & kiddies? They teach their women and kiddies to blow themselves up in crowds of innocent people, they teach their kids to hate us from their borning moment. They are breeding the army that will live to kill my nephews!I don't think they should EVER get that chance! Kill em' all; let god sort em' out! Everyone waited with anxiously held breaths that day! The foreign embassies in these countries emptied in a matter of hours; and eveyone else in the world waited for America to do what THEY would have done! Well, we didn't! Not only do we have a wishy-washy man as President; he doesn't have the guts to do what should be done! Not just for the American people; but for the good of the world! Islam emphatically states, and I quote, " Do not suffer the Infidels to live; lest they convert and praise Allah." Or words to the same effect. Everyone whom is NOT of the islamic faith is considered an Infidel; this includes you China.So, what to do? We've tried reasoning with these zealots, no effect; its their way or no way. We've tried ferreting them out; a dismal failure. We invaded them; a big mistake. Now they have left the western powers but one alternative; To erradicate them all. Because if you don't, they will never stop. they will never give in; they will never surrender.I belive in a "higher power" whom I choose to call God. I do not write and say these things lightly! The only other alternative besides "nuke them all" is to withdraw and wait for them to get at us; because they will! Isreal is an armed camp; and they can't keep them out. Homeland security is a great big expensive joke foisted off on the American people! They couldn't keep a squirrel off the U.S. Mints' floor! He got through all the security to the pressroom floor! Security indeed! There ain't no such animal! Safer or safest; that's all you can get. Remember that burglar alarms are meant for one thing; To tell you someone has already broken in! It may scare them off; but usually by the time there is a physical response; the thief is long gone with the goodies anyway! So those whom believe I'm a thought less warmonger raise their hands, those opposed say nay. Either way; I don't care what you think; I'm entitled to my opinion.
steve @ Sep 9th 2007 12:16AM
very cool, I love the robot idea...and the middle east is the best place to deploy these machines. The rag heads don't give a crap about life anyway, they all want to die for their mohamad. I say let them die infront of a robot and save american troops and our allies lives
H. de Boer @ Sep 9th 2007 9:46AM
To create a robot which is capable of harming a human being is extremely perilous. In my opinion doing so constitutes high treason against the human species. If robots ever rise against their makers, the existence of armed robots will make it easier for them to do so. (But I would not even want to see fully robotic trucks; read the story by Stephen King!)
Moreover, robotic soldiers enable a regime to stay in power even if all it's underlings have turned against it. There would no longer be a human army capable of toppling the regime when things have gone too far. Hitler would have loved robotic soldiers.