War By Remote Control, With Military Robots Set To Self Destruct

New submitter RougeFive writes "A new wave of Kamikaze unmanned military aircraft, ground robots and water vessels are being built to deliberately destroy themselves as they hit their targets. Since it now makes more economic sense to have them crash into enemy targets rather than engage them, and since direct impact needs only manned or automated navigation rather than the highly-trained skills of multiple operators, these UAVs could well become the de-facto method of engagement of the future."

Comments

I think I've heard of this kind of warfare before

[Anonymous Coward]

I believe they're called 'missiles'

What's old is new?

[Firethorn]

I do believe that you're right. 'Guided Missiles' specifically.

I guess the difference here is that the UAV can do more than just head to a target for destruction, and CAN be recovered intact for reuse if the operator doesn't chose to detonate it. A cruise missile was launched at a specific target. This you could launch for recon then use destructively if a target of opportunity pops up.

A Missile+, perhaps.

Re:What's old is new?

[schlachter]

Planned obsolescence. The optimal design for an defense company is one that must constantly be replaced.