Military Robots: The Fighting Force of the Future - Examination of Culture of Casualty Aversion, Comparison of World War II Airpower and Current Rise of Military Robot Interaction

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This report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. This monograph examines a growing culture of casualty aversion, and its effects on the need for military robots. It makes a comparison between the growing influence and effectiveness of airpower in World War II, and the current rise of military robot interaction. The theories, capabilities, acceptance, and availability of airpower made it a vital part of Allied victory in World War II. Similarly, the early theories of military robots have come to fruition, their capabilities match current military needs, they have been accepted by the U.S. public and military, and they are cheaper and more available than ever before. Military robots are on the cusp of creating a shift in the way war is fought, the same as airpower shifted warfare in the middle of the twentieth century. These factors, combined with the aforementioned casualty aversion, make military robots the fighting force of the future.

The beginning of the twenty-first century has brought a number of changes to the art of operational military planning. The United States Army, in particular, moved from a doctrine focused on defeating a known monolithic enemy to one that espouses more flexibility and adaptability in its forces. Concurrent with this doctrinal evolution are astounding advances in technology that affect both the battlefield and the home front. Military robots are able to perform many of the duties that once took one or more soldiers to do, enabling those soldiers to stay out of harm's way. Increasing communications and media capabilities have put near-real-time battlefield video into the homes of U.S. citizens. This modern technology has democratized access to information about war and its casualties, while at the same time making warfare itself safer for the U.S. soldiers. These two influences of technology have reached a point of synthesis where the technology is capable of and the citizens are adamant about minimizing human casualties. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of casualty aversion in the United States, examine a historical case of technology affecting the battlefield, investigate the current and near-future capabilities of military robots, and determine the timeliness of incorporating robots into operational planning and execution in a casualty averse environment.

1. Introduction 2. Historical Case Study: Early Aviation 3. Modern Case Study: Military Robots 4. Analysis: Military Robots at the Decisive Point 5. The Way Ahead: How to Incorporate Military Robots at the Operational Level 6. Conclusion