The Laser Avenger. Cool name, terrifying technology.
The title of this post might make you wonder “So what is the weapon of choice for robots?” I think the answer is obvious – lasers. Most depictions of robots in science fiction involve the copious use of lasers. Even Michael Jackson wanted his robot to have laser eyes. So far weapon based lasers have been limited to books and movies, but DARPA and the US military are making great strides in the development of weaponized laser systems.
The Air Force Research Laboratory have conducted tests of their M.A.T.R.I.X. system (Mobile Active Targeting Resource for Integrated eXperiments) that involved a truck mounted laser shooting down unmanned drones in mid-flight. With robotic military systems being used more and more in military campaigns, how much longer will it be until autonomous robots will be armed with lasers cannons?
The M.A.T.R.I.X. is not the only laser based system being tested. While ground based or vehicle mounted lasers are able to shoot drones out of the sky, their ability to shoot down missiles is not well known. Therefore, the military is also looking at the H.E.L.L.A.D.S. (High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System), a liquid based laser equipped on a military aircraft that would be used to shoot down airborne intercontinental ballistic missiles. There is also a fully functional solid state laser that has shown the ability to shoot down mortar rounds. Add Boeing’s Laser Avenger and other mobile laser systems and there is a wide array of laser technology being researched.
So far all of this laser weaponry is human controlled on vehicles piloted by humans. This could all change with the rise in numbers of autonomous military machines. The moment we should all fear is the time when control of a high powered (or any kind of) laser system is handed over to a machine that makes its own decisions. That choice is sure to be made at some point, especially since the military seems to be making a conscious decision to move away from manned warfare and high ranking officers are demanding more robots.
Functional laser weapons are still in their infancy, but the positive results of the latest tests seem to show that the military is no longer giving up on laser weapons, even though last year they weren’t to keen on lasers. Hopefully no robot will be built to be laser proof, because then mankind is truly screwed.
::from Wired::
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=f9544ed3-d864-4c2b-9957-f646d55be478)
More From Robot Armageddon
- Sex With Robots Is On The Horizon and It Could Doom Us All
- The Robots Are Watching You and They Will Remember You
- The RoboCop Concept May be Inevitable
Twitter Username: enter10
says:
Nice Post!!!
Twitter Username: decembersun
says:
Great, robots with lasers… and consider too that that their aim is going to be a lot more accurate than those of humans. The only positive that might save humanity is if the robot software is tested offshore. Then it’s sure to be buggy…
Wow. That’s cool. This would be really amazing and is a strong defense too. If these robots have AI, they would be even stronger.
The world might also see Laser weapons for human soldiers.
Twitter Username: RobotArmageddon
says:
Bug filled software is what could start the robot armageddon…