DARPA to Raise Robot LANdroid Army

Banekartr writes "The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency plans to develop a fleet of robots that soldiers can deploy in urban combat settings as they move through houses and along streets. The program, dubbed LANdroid, envisions miniature autonomous drones that can form a network capable of relaying radio traffic in a setting often considered challenging for communications equipment. According to a notional image of a LANdroid included in a DARPA pamphlet, each robot will be about the size of a deck of cards, and must be rugged, lightweight and able to operate for seven to 14 days, the agency said. Demand for technologies to improve the military's ability to fight in urban settings has increased in recent years because many of the operations in Iraq take place in Baghdad and other Iraqi metropolitan settings. DARPA officials will provide additional information about the program during a July 6 industry day."

Comments

Re:Not a technical problem

[Shihar]

That might not have been the original intent, but that is what they are used for now, and this is what they have to adapt to. For better or for worse, there is no other organization out there capable of acting as a police force in a combat zone, especially when it is a combat zone filled with warring ethnic and tribal rivals. Cops don't have the fire power, the UN couldn't find its dick (much less a genocide) if you handed it to them, and NGOs don't fight. The only alternative to using a national army is hiring out a mercenary army.

Now, it could be argued that acting as police is a waste of time/money. That said, I sure would like the army to have the ability to play worlds police if we have to. The future conflicts of this world will be Rwanda and Darfur style genocides and civil wars. Perhaps we will silently watch as we have in the past, but we should at least have the capacity to act should watching a nation drop 10% of its population in an orgy of rape and murder (as seen in Rwanda) eventually gets to our delicate sense of morality. Of course, we could just go the European rout and ignore every single genocide all together while paying lip service to diplomacy. It isn't terribly effective, but it sure is cheaper and lets you bring out peace slogans.