War involving robots is no longer science fiction as it has already occurred in the Nagorno-Karabakh and Ukraine-Russia conflicts. Both of these conflicts opened the eyes of military experts to see how existing advanced technology could be broken by cheap modified commercial drones. The United States late yesterday announced their Replicator Program which aims to build thousands of drones with artificial intelligence (AI) that will help them on the battlefield of the future.
This fleet of drones with AI will consist of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned aerial vehicles (USVs), unmanned aerial vehicles (UGVs) and even unmanned aerial vehicles (UUVs) that can perform dangerous one-way missions without the involvement of human military personnel. The Replicator is seen as an answer to China which is multiplying the amount of machinery, ships, aircraft and weapon systems to control the South China Sea area which is claimed as theirs. The United States hopes the Replicator Program will be operational in as early as 24 months.
Drones are harder to track than traditional assets. Detailed information about the Replicator Project is still vague but it will certainly involve existing systems such as the XQ-58 Valkyrie, Skyborg, Unmanned Influence Sweep System (UISS) and the Manta Ray Program that has been announced before under the management of DARPA.
Although the United States is the country with the largest military budget in the world, they are currently faced with the issue of recruiting the next generation to join the military. Drone systems, robots, AI and automation are seen as long-term solutions to manpower shortages for national defense needs.