US Army considers replacing thousands of troops with robots

Daily Telegraph (UK) ^ | 6:14PM GMT 21 Jan 2014 | Ben Farmer

[Olog-hai]

The US Army is considering replacing thousands of soldiers with robots as it deals with sweeping troop cuts.

A senior American officer has said he is considering shrinking the size of the Army’s brigade combat teams by a quarter and replacing the lost troops with robots and remote-controlled vehicles.

The American military is still far from fielding armies of Terminator-type robotic killers, though. Ideas under discussion instead include proposals to see manned trucks and transporters replaced by supply trains of robot vehicles.

Generals are studying proposals as the US Army is to slim down from 540,000 to about 490,000 soldiers by the end of next year. Some reports suggest it could dip below 450,000 by the end of the decade. …

[Repeal The 17th]

autobots vs decepticons

[Little Ray]

Just wait until someone hacks the system and hijacks a few of ‘em....

[a fool in paradise]

How many of them will be female or gay robots?

[a fool in paradise]

Electromagnetic pulse. We would forfeit.

[mountainlion]

I can see the courts bogged down with equal rights for computers and machines. They can “think” and act on their own so they are also “Human”?

[Olog-hai]

. . . or transgender?

Gotta broach the subject of robot chaplains too, and the weddings thereof, to follow up.

[a fool in paradise]

Obama’s agenda has been to diminish US military power. He opposed new weapon development. He wants to take us to a ZERO nuclear capacity, he has taken a nuclear response to any attack just about off the table, he has toured the Russians through our defense systems.

[Olog-hai]

Someone will define them as slaves.

[C210N]

Troops to be replaced: Conservative.

Won’t have a home in New York, won’t have a home in the military.

[OneWingedShark]

News from the future:
US Army considering replacing thousands of robots with soldiers.

[NativeSon]

I’d buy that for a dollar!

[funfan]

I know what I would hack it to do.

[Billthedrill]

Someone will define them as slaves.

Bit of trivia: "Robot" is Czech for "slave". Karel Capek used the term in 1921 in his play "R.U.R." - "Rossum's Universal Robots".

[E. Pluribus Unum]

keep in mind everything is hackable. So this is just a peachy keen idea

The young minds are going to be on the outside looking into the military-robot complex.

They'll be able to bypass Directive 4 and whatever other Directives the King has implemented to protect himself.

[Sacajaweau]

So you have robot guards along the US/Mexican border. How do you tell the good guy from the bad guy??

[Mr Ramsbotham]

Gay robots, no doubt.

[ken5050]

And we’ll have robotic JAGs to indict and prosecute them for supposed war crimes against civilians..