Military robots

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Predator is a drone and does various tasks such as observation, reconnaissance and destruction
SWORDS combat robots
The forerunner of combat robots: the Goliath miniature tank of the German Wehrmacht
Minenentschärfroboter tEODor the Bundeswehr when destroying a simulated roadside bomb
Boston Dynamics “ Atlas ” prototype in 2013. He is supposed to drive vehicles and work in dangerous environments for the US Department of Defense.

Military robots (often also combat robots ), more precisely unmanned military systems or robotic combat systems , are autonomous, semi-autonomous or remote-controlled systems developed for military use. These include observation, reconnaissance, espionage, mine clearance, guard duties and targeting. Lethal Autonomous Robot (LAR) or Lethal Autonomous Weapon System (LAWS) are names for explicitly offensive systems.

In recent years the initial euphoria has subsided and the goals in military robot development have been reformulated and more realistically formulated. The "Tactical Autonomous Combatant" planned by the US Army for 2025 in 2003 has meanwhile given way to specific unmanned systems. Instead of a tactically autonomous system, remote-controlled and semi-autonomous systems are currently in the foreground.

Combat drones, so-called unmanned aerial vehicles , which are able to take reconnaissance images and specifically fire rockets at ground targets , are already used in combat missions .

In the last decade, on the one hand, military robot development was primarily limited to implementing what was feasible without going into the ethical and legal implications. On the other hand, there was a visionary notion of fully autonomous robots that was based on the theories of technological singularity and assumed a human-like awareness of robots. The latter seems a long way off, but the integration of robots into the armed forces is already a reality. In recent years, the US military has recognized that it had not created any regulations or framework conditions and had actually been overwhelmed by developments. Attempts are currently being made to catch up with the development and several studies have been commissioned to clarify both the legal and the ethical aspects of the use of robots.

The problem that can be observed here is that the USA can hardly go behind the status quo in terms of robot integration, since the new army structure, the Future Combat Systems , are already being implemented and will not function or not function to the desired extent without autonomous systems. Furthermore, the development of military robotics has been initiated worldwide and does not seem to be stopable.

The criticism of the use of robots in military contexts can generally be divided into two groups. On the one hand, there is the mostly undifferentiated criticism that is put forward in the media and is derived from ideas from science fiction , which robots see as “stone cold killers”. On the other hand, there is criticism from philosophers such as B. Robert Sparrow, Vincent C. Müller or Peter Asaro and robot scientists such. B. Noel Sharkey , who specifically problematize ethical issues. It is currently not clear to what extent this criticism will be received by the responsible authorities. In addition, there is criticism from the political side of the disproportionate nature of the expenditures compared to the short-term benefits of unmanned or robotic systems.

Combat robots are also regularly featured in science fiction .

development

In contrast to other military technologies, the production of simple unmanned systems can be done without any special effort with freely and relatively inexpensive components. The development of military robots or technologies that can be used by the military is carried out through tenders (e.g. DARPA Grand Challenge ), by non-military groups (e.g. Samsung SGR-A1 ) and also by armaments companies. Systems that are not dependent on complex network infrastructure due to autonomy or remote control and are primarily used in the tactical area will play an increasing role in asymmetrical warfare. It is undisputed that the increasing use of unmanned systems, artificial intelligence and new weapon systems will influence the way war is waged.

Most armies expect from robotics not only the advances in weapon technology, but also, above all, great savings potential in terms of costs. The costs of manufacturing and operating unmanned systems are well below those of manned systems. As a further attempt to make savings in the budget, the rental of robots from private military contractors (PMC) has been observed in recent years (e.g. from the US Marines and the US Navy).

historical development

Remote-controlled weapons are generally considered to be the forerunners of military robots. One of the first uses of a weapon that can be regarded as remote controlled took place on August 22nd, 1849 when Venice was bombed by the Austrian army. These were unmanned balloons loaded with explosives, whereby one had to rely on a favorable wind direction, as they had no control whatsoever. These balloons were ignited either by time detonators or by a remote trigger via copper wire. Similar systems were planned by the Union troops in the American Civil War, but were not used.

In 1898, Nikola Tesla presented a radio-controlled torpedo at the Electrical Exhibition in New York City's Madison Square Garden, which initiated the development of remote-controlled weapons. In the years to come, developments in this area were pushed forward and in 1915 Gustave Gabbet and Paul Aubriot developed a "torpille terrestre électrique", i.e. a land torpedo, among others.

Around the same time, Archibald Low developed a remote-controlled bomb with a warhead for the British Army under the code name “Aerial Target” . These ideas were further developed in 1925 under the name Larynx (Long Range Gun with Lynx Engine) and subsequently by Germany with the Fieseler Fi 103 (became generally known as V1). In the following decades, the modern cruise missiles were developed based on these concepts.

Developments for land vehicles have proven to be more complicated. However, the first breakthroughs were also achieved here in the late 1930s. The Teletank models developed by the Soviet Union, i.e. tanks converted for radio control, and the Sd.Kfz already manufactured by Germany in large numbers (over 7,500). 302 (" Goliath (Panzer) "), mobile explosive charges controlled by cable, were not considered a success in military use.

Remote-controlled aircraft were in use from the 1930s. The best known is probably the British Army's Fairey IIIF floatplane. They were particularly important in air defense training.

The USA had already started the mass production of remote-controlled aircraft during the Second World War; for example, over 15,000 units of the OQ-2 radio plane were produced in the Second World War alone. In the 1950s, these were no longer used only for training purposes, but were also used as decoy targets in bombings. Only a little later the potential for espionage and reconnaissance flights was discovered and these so-called reconnaissance platforms were used with success in the Vietnam War.

The first successful attempts to use drones as weapon platforms were made as early as 1971, but it took until 2001 for a drone to actually be used in combat in Afghanistan. This essentially also concluded the separation between guided ammunition on the one hand and unmanned aerial vehicles on the other.

In modern armies, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have a variety of tasks that can be roughly divided into the following functional categories: They serve

  • as a training target and as a decoy
  • for clarification
  • for logistic support of the armed forces
  • and to combat enemy targets

Armed Predator UAVs have been used for targeted killings in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 2001. For the first time outside of Afghanistan, a Predator UAV was used on November 3, 2002 in Yemen to kill Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi , who is believed to be the main culprit in the attack on the USS Cole in 2000.

India announced in the summer of 2013 that it would develop combat robots that would replace conventional front-line soldiers in many areas. The machines should recognize friends and foes independently, said the head of India's research and armaments institute, but they are still a decade away from their introduction.

Systematics

A brief overview of some of the unmanned vehicles in use in the US Army will now be given. A distinction must be made between the following groups.

autonomy

Video Can Autonomous Weapon Systems Still Be Stopped?

Most early UAVs were essentially nothing more than human remote-controlled aircraft, sometimes augmented with simple flight support systems such as automatic stabilization, speed control, and the like. One can hardly speak of actual autonomy. In general, it must be stated that, in contrast to technology in the aircraft sector, technology in the field of autonomy is only at the beginning of development. Within the American armed forces it is also by no means clear how far the autonomy of the UAVs should go, as problems are feared if more and more manned and unmanned aircraft have to share the airspace. This is made even more difficult by the fact that the Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force have their own manned and unmanned aircraft in use and these are not centrally coordinated. The spectrum of UAVs used ranges from large reconnaissance aircraft such as the Global Hawk at an altitude of 20 km to small so-called miniature UAVs that are used by individual units at a height of a few hundred meters for reconnaissance.

The attitude of the soldiers to the degree of autonomy of robots was summarized by a technician with the phrase "Make them dumber". As early as 2001, the US Army had put an autonomous robot into service to search for explosives in vehicles, which automatically searched the underside of a vehicle and gave an alarm if it was found (Omni-Directional Inspection System - "Odis"). In practice, however, it turned out that this was not accepted by the soldiers and that the robot, which was actually intended as an autonomous system, is now remotely controlled by the soldiers.

The US Air Force predicts Booth 2013 such progress in the development of autonomous weapons systems that about 2030 man were only a nuisance.

In the field of intelligent ammunition in particular, research in sensor technology and artificial intelligence has found expression. Semi-autonomous systems like precision ammunition and autonomous systems like z. For example, the “Quick Kill” Active Protection System is already in use in many armies.

Concepts for automatic target search are also implemented in modern cluster bombs or are currently in development.

Unmanned aerial vehicles

Honeywell RQ-16A

The Honeywell Micro Unmanned Air Vehicle, also known as the Hawk, is a so-called "Vertical Take-Off and Landing Vehicle". H. it can move like a helicopter. It is used at platoon level for reconnaissance. It also often flies in front of a convoy to search for IEDs ( unconventional explosive devices ).

Wasp III BATMAV

The Battlefield Air Targeting Micro Air Vehicle is used for target identification and target observation. It automatically circles over the designated target and sends video signals.

RQ-11 Raven

With over 8,000 pieces, the Raven is currently the most widespread Micro UAV and is used by several European armies in addition to the American one. It can be controlled remotely or autonomously monitor an area using GPS coordinates.

RQ-7 Shadow

The Shadow is a so-called Battlefield System and consists of four aircraft and a control station as well as ground personnel. Its role is the constant reconnaissance and surveillance of an area. In Iraq and Afghanistan, the system has carried over 37,000 operational flights over the past three years.

MQ-8 Fire Scout

The Fire Scout is an autonomous reconnaissance, surveillance and target marking UAV developed from a normal helicopter. In the final stage, the Firescout should be able to operate continuously in the air for 72 hours. With its target marking ability, it is an integral part of the FCS Non Line of Sight Systems. There is an armed variant, but the military is not currently developing it with force.

Predator and Reaper

The RQ-1A / B Predator and its further development, the MQ-9 Reaper, are also not used as a single aircraft, but as a system and include four aircraft, a ground station, a satellite link and 55 people. The system is designed for continuous use, i. H. it is designed for 24 hours a day. The Predator is controlled by a pilot and two co-pilots who are responsible for the sensors. The range of tasks of the Predator includes reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition as well as combat missions in its armed version. With an armament of 450 kilograms, a Reaper can operate in the air for 42 hours. Reapers are also used for border control in the USA.

Global Hawk

The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-flying long-range reconnaissance aircraft. The introduction planned by the Bundeswehr was stopped by the Federal Ministry of Defense in May 2013 because the drone would not be approved in European airspace.

Unmanned ground vehicles

XM1219 Armed Robotic Vehicle Assault Light (ARV-AL)

Talon

The Foster-Miller Talon is a remote-controlled robot system that is primarily used to defuse explosives. However, depending on the equipment, this system is also designed for reconnaissance and combat missions. The robot weighs between 27 and 45 kg depending on the equipment and has already been used at Ground Zero .

Talon Swords

The SWORDS (Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection System) is the first remote-controlled armed robotic system deployed on the ground. Either automatic weapons or missiles (e.g. M202A1 FLASH (Flame Assault Shoulder Weapon)) are provided as armament. The deployment in Iraq met with wide and, above all, critical media coverage, although there was no combat deployment.

MAARS

The Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System is the further development of the Talon SWORD. Since the military had concerns about the suitability of the SWORD, the design, controls and chassis were completely revised in a very short time.

Packbot

With over 2000 units in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Packbot is one of the most common robots. It is mainly used to defuse explosives. Equipped with a "Fido Explosives Detector", it achieves the same success rate in detecting explosives as the best-trained dogs. The new Packbot models can be steered with a control device based on the game controllers.

Dragon Runner

The Dragon Runner is a robot that is designed for use in urban areas. It weighs only four kilograms and is designed so that it can be thrown through windows, out of a moving car or down a stairwell. Using a camera and motion sensors, he then gives the soldiers a picture of the tactical situation.

BigDog

BigDog is a four-legged transport robot that was developed in collaboration with Boston Dynamics and Harvard University , among others . His performance caused quite a stir in the public and Big-dog is considered a reference project for the implementation of four-legged movement.

Bear

The "Battlefield Extraction Assist Robot" is a roughly two-meter-tall humanoid robot for transporting the wounded out of the combat area and has a carrying capacity of 135 kilograms. It can also be used for loading and transporting heavy goods. The robot's face, reminiscent of a teddy bear, is supposed to calm wounded soldiers.

Crusher

Crusher is the official name for this 6.5 ton autonomous all-terrain UGV. It was developed at Carnegie Mellon University, one of the three most important centers for robot development in the USA.

Mule and ARV

The Multifunctional Utility / Logistics and Equipment Vehicle or the Armed Robotic Vehicle is designed as a support system for infantry. It consists of transportation systems, reconnaissance systems, and armed systems. The systems are equipped with an autonomous navigation system and are able to follow a command vehicle or soldiers or to drive autonomously to a certain point in the area or to support the soldiers in combat.

Guardium

The Israeli military has been testing the Guardium since 2008, for example on the border with the Gaza Strip. It is up to 80 km / h and can also be armed.

Unmanned underwater vehicles

Spartan Scout and Bluefin

Unmanned Surface Vehicles (unmanned surface vehicles ) or also called Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (autonomous underwater vehicles), these vehicle types have only been rediscovered in the last few years and were used in Afghanistan. In addition to apparently remote-controlled or autonomous systems, systems are already widespread that, although not referred to as robots, are quite similar to them.

Ethics discussion

In general, two areas of the exercise of deadly violence by a robot can be distinguished: On the one hand, in robots that have no autonomy and are considered to be a machine extension of the warfighter . Remote-controlled systems can also raise ethical questions, e.g. B. how far the technological asymmetry can go without the violence exercised becoming disproportionate. These are also the vast majority of the systems currently in use.

On the other hand, in robots as at least partially autonomous agents. In this case, the robot acts autonomously either to support a military operation or for self-defense. For this case, an artificial intelligence must be developed that can make decisions about legitimate targets in armed conflicts. There is currently no agreement on whether it is possible to create such a complex artificial intelligence on the one hand, and whether it is desirable for an artificial intelligence to make decisions of this kind on the other.

To solve the problem of unmanned weapon systems, three approaches have emerged:

  • The demand for a general ban on autonomous weapon systems.
  • The requirement to equip unmanned weapon systems with an "ethics module" that enables the weapon system to make a legally and ethically justifiable decision based on the situation.
  • The requirement that unmanned systems should target enemy weapons systems and not enemy soldiers.

criticism

There is resistance against autonomous combat robots that completely decide for themselves whether or not to shoot at a person ( lethal autonomous weapons ). The British initiative Landmine Action, which advocates the banning of landmines and cluster bombs , now also wants autonomous combat robots to be banned internationally, since the decision to kill a person in a combat operation should never be made automatically by a machine.

On September 30th, 2009, the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC) was founded under the leadership of Noel Sharkey , which advocates limiting the military use of robots.

In 2015, more than 1,000 international scientists and entrepreneurs issued an open letter calling for a ban on killer robots. Among them the physicist Stephen Hawking , the Apple co- founder Steve Wozniak and the CEO and investor Elon Musk ( Tesla , PayPal ). They warn of a new arms race and the danger of uncontrolled arms proliferation to warlords , dictators and terrorists . Angela Kane , the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, made a similar statement in 2014 .

The non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch coordinates the “Campaign to Stop Killer Robots”, to which 64 organizations in 28 countries belong (as of September 2017). The German department, based at Facing Finance , reports on the initiation of formal talks within the framework of the United Nations' CCW negotiations (CCW = Convention on the Prohibition or Restriction of the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons, which Cause Excessive Suffering or May Have Indiscriminate Effects ).

The United Nations has been installing the UNICRI Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in The Hague since September 2016 in order to investigate the challenges, opportunities and risks posed by artificial intelligence. The United Nations fear that developments in this area could "destabilize" the world. At the United Nations in Geneva, the legal, ethical and security issues of the potential use of these weapons systems are discussed.

At the same time, there are voices who consider combat robots to be progress that can save human lives.

Operations with special media interest

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Marco Elsy: "DARPA unveils ATLAS, Is the Terminator one step closer?" July 16, 2013, viewed September 16, 2013
  2. ^ US Joint Forces Command - Group Alpha: Rapid Assessment Process (RAP) Report 3-10, Unmanned Effects (UFX): Taking the Human Out of the Loop
  3. ↑ Werner Pluta: Robots revolutionize the war of the 21st century. Golem.de, April 30, 2009, accessed April 30, 2009 .
  4. ↑ Military Robot Ethics Report of the Ethics + Emerging Technologies Group at California Polytechnic State University (PDF; 1.4 MB)
  5. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from March 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Ronald Arkin, Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots
  6. ↑ Washington Post
  7. ^ Robert Sparrow: Killer Robots. In: Journal of Applied Philosophy. Vol. 24, No. 1, 2007.
  8. ↑ a b Vincent Müller: Autonomous killer robots are probably good news . Ashgate. 2016.
  9. ↑ Peter Asaro: How Just Could a Robot War Be? In: Philip Brey, Adam Briggle, Katinka Waelbers (Eds.): Current Issues in Computing And Philosophy. IOS Publishers 2008, Amsterdam 2008.
  10. ↑ Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates recommends the temporary suspension of the Future Combat Systems vehicle program
  11. ↑ PW Singer: Wired for War. New York 2009, pp. 240-241.
  12. ^ Asymmetric Wars
  13. ↑ DCDC Strategic Trends ( Memento of February 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), Report of the Development, Concepts and Doctrine Center of the British Ministry of Defense, Chapter: Dimensions / Military
  14. ↑ David Ax: Warbots. Ann Arbor 2008, p. 48.
  15. ↑ Remote Piloted Aerial Vehicles: An Anthology. Retrieved March 17, 2009 .
  16. ↑ Tesla Effect, US patent No. 613,809. Retrieved March 17, 2009 .
  17. ^ The Radioplane Target Drone. Retrieved March 17, 2009 .
  18. ^ Directory of US Military Rockets and Missiles. Retrieved March 17, 2009 .
  19. ↑ Ria Novost: "India Developing Robot Soldiers Says Research Agency" of 10 June 2013 spotted on June 10, 2013
  20. ↑ David Ax: Warbots. Ann Arbor 2008, p. 14 and p. 28.
  21. ^ Reymer Klüver: Automata of death . Süddeutsche.de. October 14, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  22. ^ "Euro Hawk": drone debacle burdened de Maizière , Spiegel.de, May 15, 2013, accessed on May 22, 2013
  23. ^ John Canning, 2030 Vision for Weaponized Unmanned Systems ( Memento from December 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  24. ↑ golem.de: Banning of combat robots required: Interest group against landmines wants to ban armed robots
  25. ↑ heise.de: International agreement to ban autonomous combat robots required
  26. ↑ http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17887-campaign-asks-for-international-treaty-to-limit-war-robots.html
  27. ↑ telegraph.co.uk: Ban killer robots to stop killing machine arms race warns Professor Stephen Hawking, accessed October 1, 2017.
  28. ↑ telegraph.co.uk: Killer robots a small step away and must be outlawed, says top UN official, accessed October 1, 2017.
  29. ↑ stopkillerrobots.org: Who We Are, accessed October 1, 2017.
  30. ↑ killer-roboter-stoppen.de: It was decided to start formal talks about a ban on killer robots, accessed on October 1, 2017.
  31. ↑ unicri.it: UNICRI in the process of opening of the first Center on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics within the United Nations system, accessed on October 1, 2017.
  32. ↑ theguardian.com: Robots could destabilize world through war and unemployment, says UN, accessed October 1, 2017.
  33. ^ Ingvild Bode: Negotiations about killer robots in Geneva. In: heise online . November 18, 2017. Retrieved November 18, 2017 .
  34. ↑ United Nations Office of Geneva: Where global solutions are shaped for you | Disarmament | 2017 Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS). Retrieved November 18, 2017 .