Robots in combat: true revolution or techno-hype?

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: DEFENSEINSIDER

* The U.S. military's unmanned aircraft and ground robots have been ballyhooed as symbols of a fundamental shift in warfare, a revolution in military technology, the possibility of casualty-free wars.

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But not everyone buys the hype. The military's love affair with robots, instead, should be seen as symptom of deeper changes in the way the U.S. military fights wars, said Fred Kaplan, a Slate magazine columnist. The real transformation that has been under way is not the use of robots but rather the changing role of the U.S. Air Force from a service that was conceived to fight aerial warfare to one that works 100-percent in support of ground forces, Kaplan said. Unmanned aircraft are only facilitating that transition.

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