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 Subject: Robot wars 'will be a reality within 10 years'
 To: rogue_radio@yahoo.com

 Robot wars 'will be a reality within 10 years'
 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/02/27/scirobots127.xml
 By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent
 Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 27/02/2008

 The world is sleepwalking into an international robot
 arms race, a leading expert will warn today.

 The Foster-Miller Armed TALON Robot, used by the US
 army
 US forces recently deployed remote-controlled robots
 equipped with automatic weapons in Iraq

 Prof Noel Sharkey fears increased research and
 spending on unmanned military systems by countries
 including the US, Russia, China and Israel will lead
 to the use of autonomous battlefield robots that can
 decide when to kill within a decade.

 In a keynote speech he will also predict it is only a
 matter of time before robots become a standard
 terrorist weapon to replace suicide bombers.

 Prof Sharkey, of the University of Sheffield's
 Department of Computer Science, is best known as a
 judge in the BBC television series Robot Wars.

 He will outline his fears in a speech at a conference
 on the ethics of unmanned military systems at the
 Royal United Services Institute, a respected defence
 think tank.

 Prof Sharkey said yesterday: "There's a massive drive
 towards developing autonomous robots for more complex
 missions.

 "We are rapidly moving towards robots that can make
 the decision to apply lethal force, when to apply it
 and who to apply it to. I think maybe we're taking
 about a 10-year time frame.
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 "If one country develops autonomous robots, it is
 clear that other countries will follow suit. What
 worries me is real soldiers can use common sense in
 situations such as deciding whether a woman is
 pregnant or carrying explosives. Robots do not.

 "Neither can they make decisions about the
 proportional use of force. Most soldiers would not for
 example blow up a school full of children if there is
 a sniper on its roof, but who knows what a robot would
 do."

 The American Department of Defence (DoD) last year
 published a 25-year plan to spend as £12 billion on
 robotic air, land and sea systems.

 US forces recently deployed the first battlefield
 robots equipped with automatic weapons in Iraq.

 Talon Sword robots are versions of remote-controlled,
 track-wheeled bomb disposal devices that can be
 equipped with various weapons including machine guns
 and rocket launchers. Four are already in use by the
 3rd Infantry Division and 80 more are on order.

 Currently under international Laws of War humans must
 be part of any decision to use robots to kill, however
 the recent DoD programme outlined plans to make them
 increasingly autonomous.

 Last year nine soldiers were killed in South Africa
 when an aircraft gun designed to target other
 aircraft, helicopters and cruise missiles
 automatically malfunctioned.

 A trial at the Old Bailey two years ago heard how a
 gang of would-be terrorists discussed plans to strap
 bombs to remote controlled model aeroplanes.

 Prof Sharkey warned that with the cost of components
 falling, military developments would inevitably be
 copied by terrorists.

 He added it would cost around £250 for terrorists to
 improvise an unmanned aircraft to deliver explosives
 using a mobile phone with GPS technology and a model
 aeroplane.

 "You could also make thousands of ground-based robots
 cheaply to replace suicide bombers. I have judged many
 robot competitions and I know how easy it is.

 "Once the new weapons are out there, they will be
 fairly easy to copy. How long is it going to be before
 the terrorists get in on the act?

 "There is an urgent need for national governments and
 the international community to assess the risks of
 these new weapons now rather than after they have
 crept their way into common use."






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