Robot soldiers, the Pentagon, & smart dust

Tim Weiner in the NYTimes:

Robots in battle, as envisioned by their builders, may look and move like humans or hummingbirds, tractors or tanks, cockroaches or crickets. With the development of nanotechnology - the science of very small structures - they may become swarms of "smart dust." The Pentagon intends for robots to haul munitions, gather intelligence, search buildings or blow them up.

All these are in the works, but not yet in battle. Already, however, several hundred robots are digging up roadside bombs in Iraq, scouring caves in Afghanistan and serving as armed sentries at weapons depots.

By April, an armed version of the bomb-disposal robot will be in Baghdad, capable of firing 1,000 rounds a minute. Though controlled by a soldier with a laptop, the robot will be the first thinking machine of its kind to take up a front-line infantry position, ready to kill enemies.

They are envisioning convoys driving thru cities and forests, with robot drivers capable of deciding who and what to shoot at. A current contract for development is $127,000,000,000, serious money even to a US Senator.

Click here: The New York Times > Technology > A New Model Army Soldier Rolls Closer to the Battlefield