Ukrainian officials are receiving an increasing amount of applications from robotics vendors who want their systems tested for utility in combat, a sign that unmanned ground capabilities are growing in importance amid the relative stalemate along the front line with Russia.
Officials at Brave1, a government defense-technology hub tasked with getting new capabilities field-ready, announced that more than 50 ground robotic systems and more 140 unmanned ground vehicles have been submitted for evaluation.
“Hundreds of them will be procured through United24 to strengthen the Ukrainian army on the battlefield in a few months – UGVs will become the next game changer in this war, [like] drones already have,” a March 12 Brave1 statement circulated on the organization’s social media channels said. United24 is Ukrainian government-run platform for collecting donations for the embattled country.
In the last year, an increasing number of these types of platforms have emerged on the battlefield, being used and tested for a widening array of missions. Ukrainian social media channels recently published footage reportedly showing a UGV capable of laying six anti-tank mines at a time.
In pictures posted online by Brave1, a variety of small-scale tracked and wheeled ground robots are seen on the move, armed with guns, evacuating injured dummies and equipped with what appears to be mine-detection equipment.
@ISIDEWITH2mos2MO
Would you support your country's military using ground robots in battle, and why or why not?
@9KWQG2R2mos2MO
I do not care just do not make robots that will take over the world
@9KWPHM62mos2MO
No, its exactly how the how the Terminator series will play out.
@9KWPGKS2mos2MO
My perspective is that robots are dangerous
@9KWP9C9Republican2mos2MO
I think robots are good cuz they save people
@ISIDEWITH2mos2MO
Do you think the use of ground robots in combat makes war more or less ethical?
@9KWSJD72mos2MO
More ethical. The less human lives lost fighting a rich man’s war, the better.
@9KWRY8GIndependent2mos2MO
no because war is not ethical no matter what
@9KWRTDW2mos2MO
Well, depends on severity and the lengths taken.
@9KWRT942mos2MO
War is inherently unethical. You could argue for either side, really.
@ISIDEWITH2mos2MO
If robots are doing the fighting, what emotions does that provoke when considering the value of human life versus robot 'life'?
@9KWQ2GX2mos2MO
ai is scary and slowly taking over
@9KWPNF52mos2MO
I feel as if its a good point but robots can only be programmed, humans can be reprogrammed to be trained assassins/killers and legally for their country.
@9KWPDJM2mos2MO
I think that everyone wants robots now to take over the human acts
@9KWTJCGJustice party member2mos2MO
Robots have no morality, and that takes away from military training. It is unhealthy and provokes the usage of robots in our every day lives.
@UncommonLocustGreen2mos2MO
This is a key piece of the emerging dystopian future where human error and false assumptions are written in code and executed at lightning speed without any human governance. The idea that entire populations could be held hostage to machines controlled by a few is the logical end point of this technology.
Be afraid.
@RobustUnanimousSocialist2mos2MO
Of course killer robots are the perfect solution to disloyal working class soldiers who might decide to disobey orders and not shoot their families and friends.
@FreeTradeJellyfishNo Labels2mos2MO
The next step is when independent AI weapons have to decide whether to take out the enemy's independent AI weapons. Eventually there may be no humans on battlefields. There would be a lot of destruction, but no loss of human life. But if countries are just destroying each other's robots, why not use virtual robots instead of real ones. Will war become a giant video game but with real results?
@SolidSquirrelSocialist2mos2MO
How many young American men and women died or were permanently disabled because we didn't mount weapons on drone platforms in Afghanistan and Iraq. Today there is no reason an American soldier should walk openly in a hostile environment. AI should be reserved for defensive purposes.
There is no point in creating killing machines to kill other machines. These tools are going to be used to control civilians. These tools, combined with the rise of authoritarian governments, should give people a reason to be concerned and demand a resolution regarding the use of autonomous or drone warfare against civilians. Ideally the resolution should be passed before they are used, unlike the resolutions against chemical and nuclear warfare, which were only passed due to widespread horror and condemnation.
@M0derateRaisinsNo Labels2mos2MO
We seem dead set on getting to a point where we can treat war as one giant real world video game. The more technology progresses the happier I am that I’m old and will be long gone before most if this comes to fruition.
The historical activity of users engaging with this general discussion.
Loading data...
Loading chart...
Loading the political themes of users that engaged with this discussion
Loading data...
