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If the present is any indication, pretty soon wars are going to be about fighting machines.

If the present is any indication, pretty soon wars are going to be about fighting machines. Currently, there are 15,000 robots and 12,000 drones in operation in theatres of war.  Take the Packbot, which costs $150,000. There are 12,000 of these robots in Iraq and Afghanistan, defusing anti-personnel mines and improvised explosive devices. Then there are predator drones being operated from United States bases which can fly overhead for 14 hours and fire two Hellfire missiles. And the Marcbot is a tiny vehicle mounted with television cameras that can perform the job of a scout. Reported to be the first robot that actually killed an enemy in the field, the Marcbot is armed with a Claymore anti-personnel mine. The little known Wasp Drone is critical in building-to-building urban combat. On being tossed by a solder into a building, its sensors and camera give real time 3D images of the interiors.

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Ninad D. Sheth