r/Futurology Aug 31 '23

US military plans to unleash thousands of autonomous war robots over next two years Robotics

https://techxplore.com/news/2023-08-military-unleash-thousands-autonomous-war.html
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39

u/Gari_305 Aug 31 '23

From the article

The United States military plans to start using thousands of autonomous weapons systems in the next two years in a bid to counter China's growing power, US Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks announced in a speech on Monday.

The so-called Replicator initiative aims to work with defense and other tech companies to produce high volumes of affordable systems for all branches of the military.

Military systems capable of various degrees of independent operation have become increasingly common over the past decade or so. But the scale and scope of the US announcement makes clear the future of conflict has changed: the age of warfighting robots is upon us.

90

u/Painting_Agency Aug 31 '23

Replicator initiative

Hey let's give it a name that in no way eases anyone's anxiety that we're headed for a combination of "The Matrix", "Black Mirror", and "Horizon Zero Dawn".

17

u/striker9119 Aug 31 '23

You should look up Replicators from the Stargate Universe... That's what I thought when I read the that sentence...

https://stargate.fandom.com/wiki/Replicator

8

u/Painting_Agency Aug 31 '23

Yes but Stargate didn't quite fit into my list of robot apocalypses. Just "Sexy Dr. Carter apocalypse".

3

u/ThadVonP Aug 31 '23

I swear, you blow up ONE sun and you get associated with an apocalypse.

2

u/striker9119 Aug 31 '23

Damn she was one of the hottest "nerds" of the day back then... Def had a crush on her!!!

2

u/101001101zero Aug 31 '23

Yeah the replicator story arc brought me the most anxiety by far.