Advances in weaponry not matched by morality

ROBOTS ARE THE latest scientific aids to warfare. Once shunned as unacceptable to traditional soldiering, they are now widely used by the US forces in the Middle East and will undoubtedly be used on a widespread basis in wars from now on. The use of robots on the modern battlefield is described by PW Singer in Scientific American, July 2010.

Science has been harnessed since ancient times to develop powerful new weapons for war. Such new weapons were usually considered to be strange and, initially, unacceptable. Possibly the first significant technological aids to warfare were powerful catapults developed in the fourth century BC. After seeing a catapult fired, the Spartan general Archidamus said: “Oh Hercules, human martial valour is of no use any more.”

Archimedes (c287-c212) developed war machines to fend off Roman ships when Syracuse was attacked in 214 BC. One machine was a giant iron claw operated from within the city walls and capable of overturning Roman ships. Archimedes may possibly have also developed a “death ray” machine – a series of mirrors that reflected concentrated sunlight onto Roman ships, setting them ablaze.

Later, in Renaissance Italy, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) designed numerous weapons, including armoured cars, multi-barrelled machine guns and giant crossbows. The power of new weaponry introduced by science climaxed in the 20th century with the development of the atomic bomb in the Manhattan Project (1942-1945). Now, for the first time, the destructive power of weaponry was great enough to destroy human civilisation in an all-out-war.

Widespread use of robots in war is a very recent development. As Singer describes, “not a single robot accompanied the US advance from Kuwait towards Baghdad in 2003. Since then, 7,000 unmanned aircraft and another 12,000 ground vehicles have entered the US military inventory, entrusted with missions that range from seeking out snipers to bombing the hideouts of al-Qaeda higher-ups in Pakistan.”

The warrior culture of elite soldiers, demanding personal leadership on the battlefield, at first resisted the introduction of robots, but the new technology is now accepted. Singer is of the opinion that terrorist tactics employed by an irregular enemy, eg remote triggering of bombs by operatives using mobile phones, made it easy to justify sending machines to war.

Robots generally work on a tripartite principle of “sense-think-act”. A sensor gathers information from the environment, and passes it to a computer that activates a mechanical system to carry out some physical action on the surroundings. Robots can search for bombs, scout out dangerous alleys or a remote village, or peek over a ridge top to look for insurgents, all under remove control. Aircraft drones with security cameras can survey remote areas and robot submarines can survey unfriendly coastlines.

The next generation of robots is under development. BigDog is a mechanical dog that walks on four hydraulically operated legs, and is equipped with a GPS system, electronic eyes and a powerful computer. It can negotiate terrain impossible for vehicles that move on wheels/tracks and carry hundreds of kilograms of ammunition or other supplies. Lockheed Martin’s High Altitude Airship carries a radar as long as a football field and can stay aloft at 20,000 metres for more than a month at a time. Other new robots carry machine guns and grenade launchers and can undertake sentry and sniper duties. The computing power of all these various devices is also increasing exponentially.

Singer is of the opinion that warfare will soon be conducted as a collaborative effort between soldiers and robots. In this scenario, the human soldier will play a role akin to the quarterback in American football – calling plays for robot team mates.

The introduction of robots changes the rules of war. For example, “remote warfare” will become increasingly common, where a soldier fights from his/her office, sitting before a computer screen and directing robots to attack an enemy hundreds or thousands of miles away. The most dangerous parts of the day for this soldier will be the daily drives to and from the office.

It might be thought that such smart technology would give one side an invincible advantage, but the other side quickly adapts. Also, such revolutionary changes can cause unanticipated and long-ranging changes in social structures. Singer recounts how the longbow facilitated the English victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, and how it later ended feudalism by allowing peasants to defeat knights.

I would much prefer to report on how scientific technology is alleviating human misery than on how it is developing war machines. It is depressing to contemplate how little we have advanced morally over the ages compared with our exponential growth in scientific knowledge and sophistication. But, we apply science both for good and for ill.

William Reville is professor of biochemistry and public awareness of science officer at UCC – understandingscience.ucc.ie