Figure 3.7 Autonomous tanks.
Figure 3.7 shows the autonomous tanksin action. Autonomous tanks and vehicles can play an important role on the battle ground. Future wars will be the same as now, but human soldiers will be replaced by humanoid robots, tanks will be replaced by autonomous tanks, and ships and submarines will be replaced by autonomous ships and submarines.
3.4.3 Autonomous Ships and Submarines
Submarines are the hidden players of any warfare, which have the capability to change the result of warfare. Submarines have capabilities to surprise enemies. Since they operate under the water, it is very difficult to trace them. One drawback with submarines is that they need crew members to operate them. Autonomous submarines will solve this problem, and this type of submarine is currently under development.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) developed the Sea Hunter in 2018, having a length of 40 meters, speed of 27 knots. The Sea Hunter operates up to three months at a time without a crew or anyone controlling it remotely. As of late, the U.S. Office of Naval Research showed an armada of self-ruling pontoons imparting and swarming an objective altogether. Their possible future use? Shielding harbors from assault [19]. Asia and Europe are additionally dealing with different unmanned boat ventures. In the UK, the Royal Navy as of late took was responsible for an autonomous minesweeper framework that can clear ocean mines.
Autonomous ships and submarines that utilize on-board PC frameworks, GPS, sonar, laser, infrared and different sensors, are improving reconnaissance and warranting a substantial amount of investments to fund. For Sea Hunter, the operational quotes run from US$15,000 to US$20,000 every day. Contrast that with an everyday cost of around US$700,000 to operatea destroyer [23].
As per DARPA, these submarines could transform United State naval operations and can lead the way to a new type of naval warfare. These autonomous ships and submarines are capable of changing the result of any warfare, without losing a single life. Figure 3.8 shows autonomous submarines and ships that are in the testing phase of development.
Figure 3.8 Autonomous submarines and ships currently under development.
3.4.4 Humanoid Robot Soldiers
In the twentieth century, approximately 108 million people were killed due to warfare, and it is estimated that approximately 150 million to 1 billion people have been killed in wars throughout all of human history [28]. Humanoid robot soldiers will help to reduce these kinds of deaths in the future. Humanoid robots are modeled like humans. Since they are designed for specific tasks, the functional abilities of these robots are different from each other. We all have seen humanoid robots in movies in which they are fighting to achieve some specific goal. Humanoid robot soldiers are a type of humanoid robot designed to model armed soldiers to participate in warfare.
The world is busy developing humanoid robot soldiers which can replace armed forces. Some countries have developed really good humanoid robots which they keep upgrading [27]. FEDOR, a humanoid robot developed by Russia, can shoot at targets using both hands. FEDOR, which is short for Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research, is also known as Skybot F-850 [16]. There are many humanoid robot soldiers in development. The United States is developing an advanced humanoid robot which can replace the soldiers in the armed forces.
Humanoid robots will be part of future wars, and a country having the latest technologies for armed robots will most probably defeat its opponent. China and the United States are busy competing with each other to become the leader in AI technology. China wants to become the leader of this emerging technology, with 2030 being the deadline to achieve this goal. It is investing billions of dollars to promote home invention and many startups in the Silicon Valley [18]. Currently, many humanoid robot soldiers are under development. Some of the military robots of the future are [31]:
Atlas
Avatar III
Corrosion Resistant Aerial Covert Unmanned Nautical System (CRACUNS)
TALON
Black Knight
Guardium
Currently some humanoid robot soldiers have been developed and many are in the testing phase of development. Russia has developed Fedor, the United States is developing Atlas, and so on. Figure 3.9 shows some humanoid armed soldiers who will replace human armed soldiers in the future.
Figure 3.9 Some examples of humanoid armed robots.
3.4.5 Armed Soldier Exoskeletons
What is an armed soldier exoskeleton? Is it a robot or a human? It’s neither a robot nor a human, it’s a combination of both. Most probably everyone has seen the movie Iron Man in which there was an Iron Man suit; it is the same as that. The United States Special Operations Command, with the cooperation of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Harvard, is presently inventing a Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS), which is a battery-powered exoskeleton intended to be worn by fighters to enhance strength, endurance and ergonomics [28].
Notwithstanding a strong exoskeleton that bolsters the administrator, the suit includes physiological and organic sensors, actuators that fill in as the muscles to control the suit, processors and PCs, a cap with advanced presentation and different correspondence frameworks.
TALOS and other exoskeletons being created in nations such as Europe, China, and Russia, will help support soldiers when walking long distances or carry heavy loads, including casualties. Additionally, they can possibly offer ballistic and bomb protection in an assault [27].
By conserving human energy and reducing injuries, soldiers will be able to keep moving longer, reducing the amount of down time, which is a huge military advantage. Regardless of some lingering issues, the work on the main model is expected to be finished by the end of 2018. The connection between robots and the military is experiencing some dramatic changes. Rightly or wrongly, this forward-moving innovation is changing how countries handle defense, from observing enemy activity and completing missions to who we send into battle.
Be that as it may, while robots utilized in military positions can help decrease costs, empower efficiencies and spare lives when on our side, when in the hands of the foe, or whenever given an excess of self-rule, they could introduce new dangers which could be deadlier. Therefore, new ethical protocols need to be developed to decrease the dangers.
Armed soldier exoskeletons, which are a combination of humans and robots, are shown in Figure 3.10 [21].