It is not inconceivable that by the 2040s, much of the fighting will be done by the robots, with their human masters kept well behind harm’s way. Future naval forces will exploit a mix of traditional crewed vessels and unmanned autonomous systems that operate over, on and under the waves. These autonomous systems will be able to generate a lethal effect on the future battlespace and, as a recent report by the Congressional Research Service suggested, be..
“…capable of both independently identifying a target and employing an onboard weapon to engage and destroy the target without manual human control.” The introduction of lethal autonomous weapon systems has some significant implications for future warfare.
Firstly, the development of autonomous systems opens the prospect for re-introducing mass onto the future battlespace....MORE
