DoD’s Robot Surge

Noah Shachtman passes on word that the Pentagon plans to begin a surge of robots to perform dangerous missions in Iraq and elsewhere.

U.S. military robots ran 30,000 missions in 2006 — hunting for, and getting rid of, improvised explosives. Now, the military has launched a crash project to radically increase its unmanned ground forces. Call it the robotic equivalent of the “surge.” The first batch of ‘bots is due September 24, Defense News‘ Kris Osborn reports. 1000 machines are supposed to be enlisted by the end of the year, with two thousand more in five years.

Insert requisite “Jobs Americans Won’t Do” reference here.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.