Command of military forces has changed and robots are the reason. Robots are creating the next battlefield. The use of robots has caused two major events to occur in war-fighting. First, robots have given the soldier in the field unprecedented power. Corporals have control of robots with great destructive capability and the ability to make the decision to use that force in an instant. Second, generals in command centers far from the site of the battle can micromanage the tactics of units because of their ability to use drone robots to observe, and therefore direct, small units directly. In some cases, according to this article from the Brookings Institute, generals have been known to order a single soldier to change positions.
Robots are incredible force multipliers on the battlefield. How will the military learn to deal with this? More importantly, how will the government of the United States redesign the military command structure to adapt to the use of robots?
Photo Credit: http://robotstocknews.blogspot.com and iRobot
The Rise of the Tactical General
Brookings Institution, DC
Forty-two other countries have military robotics programs, as well as a host of nonstate actors. But like any major change in war, the robot revolution is not turning out to be the frictionless triumph of technology that some would describe it. …
The Rise of the Tactical General – Brookings Institution
Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:55:47 GMT
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