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Pentagon Successfully Tests Micro-Drone Swarm (phys.org)

Posted by BeauHD on from the it's-a-bird-it's-a-plane-it's-superman dept.

schwit1 quotes a report from Phys.Org: The Pentagon may soon be unleashing a 21st-century version of locusts on its adversaries after officials on Monday said it had successfully tested a swarm of 103 micro-drones. The important step in the development of new autonomous weapon systems was made possible by improvements in artificial intelligence, holding open the possibility that groups of small robots could act together under human direction. Military strategists have high hopes for such drone swarms that would be cheap to produce and able to overwhelm opponents' defenses with their great numbers. The test of the micro-drone swarm in October included 103 Perdix micro-drones measuring around six inches (16 centimeters) launched from three F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets, the Pentagon said in a statement.

10 of 113 comments (clear)

  1. WW3 is going to be a nightmare by Dzimas · · Score: 2

    WWI saw brutal mechanization and trench warfare, WWII brought us aerial bombardment and the Blitzkrieg. And now it looks like WWIII will offer up the excitement of being hunted to extinction by autonomous drones.

    1. Re: WW3 is going to be a nightmare by Sperbels · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Nukes are a "doomsday weapon". You don't win a war with them, unless you want to rule an irradiated wasteland.

      I can think of two conspicuous examples that totally disprove this statement.

    2. Re: WW3 is going to be a nightmare by Pascoea · · Score: 2

      It doesn't count when only one side has them. Things have changed a bit in the last 70 years.

  2. A future countermeasure for "active shooters"? by Jeremi · · Score: 2

    It seems like a co-ordinated swarm of drones would be a good way to neutralize someone who has decided to go on a shooting spree. They could either attack the shooter or simply swarm around him so that he can't see where he is going, and shooting at them wouldn't be particularly effective since they are small, fast, and there are so many of them.

    Well, someday, maybe.

    --


    I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    1. Re:A future countermeasure for "active shooters"? by Sperbels · · Score: 2

      Clearly you haven't seen the movie Phantasm.

  3. Perhaps the Grey Goo will get us after all by rmdingler · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's a link to a neat video of the exercise.

    --
    Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

    Ernest Hemingway

    1. Re:Perhaps the Grey Goo will get us after all by Sperbels · · Score: 2

      That noise is terrifying.

  4. not so micro by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Here's a picture of one and it's not what I would call "micro".

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  5. Reminds me of... by D00MSlayer · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Protoss Carriers.

  6. Jet Killers by JimSadler · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Imagine a combat zone with enemy jets swooping in to find a swarm of stealthy drones each with a piece of tungsten about to be sucked into their engines. Or drones that could ignite magnesium ribbons to confuse heat seeking missiles. Drones close to the ground dragging around magnesium ribbons could make the use of rifles or any weapon that required eyesight or night vision to be useless. Drones that were a bit larger could drop tiny devices that would put a bit of something like cobra venom on any enemy below. Since a tear drop will do one drone could drop many thousands of such weapons. It would not matter if it hit a hand, a foot or a shoulder. That soldier would be dead meat.