Robodogs, laser beams and drone-zapping microwaves: The weapons that could decide the wars of the future
Laser beams, robodogs and drone-zapping microwaves, these are the types of weapons that could be deployed on battlefields in the not too distant future. Some are already here.
The threat of a wider war in Europe feels increasingly real to many on the continent, after Russia’s drone incursion into Poland sparked fears that Russian aggression will continue to spill beyond Ukraine’s borders.
The Ukraine war has revolutionised military conflict, with futuristic weapons, such as fibre-optic drones which are immune to jamming and radio frequency detection, drone protection nets, and ground robots, all used by Moscow and Kyiv’s forces.
Now, weapons being developed and tested by the biggest militaries in the world are making science fiction a reality, with ever increasing reliance on artificial intelligence (AI).
Defence experts have acknowledged the dystopian reality created by the use of robotic and autonomous weapons, as critics warn against delegating life-and-death decisions to machines.
Lt Col Jahara “Franky” Matisek, is a US Air Force command pilot and command centre director at the US Northern Command.
He told The Independent: “Ultimately, science fiction has to now meet supply chains, where minerals, rare earths, and other metals become strategic chokepoints – mostly controlled by China – for acquiring the needed materials to make drones, batteries, lasers, AI-enabled hardware, and numerous other ‘futuristic’ weapon systems.
“Lasers and microwaves make drones cheap to defeat, not to mention EW (electronic warfare) interrupting drones as well; and of course AI accelerates decision-making,” he said. “But judgement and logistics remain irreplaceable.”
His sentiments were shared by Patrick Wilcken, a researcher on military, security and policing at Amnesty International, who warned of the moral, ethical and legal risks posed by such weapons.
“These range from practical issues related to the risks of bias, discrimination and overly rigid categorisation of people to more fundamental questions of dehumanisation and the undermining of human dignity,” he said.
Here, The Independent looks at some of the weapons making their way to the battlefield.
The use of drones by Ukraine and Russia has transformed conventional warfare, serving in both countries’ defence and offence capabilities.
Both sides have scaled up the mass production of drones, including one-way attack drones, reconnaissance drones, cheap kamikaze models, first-person view drones for precision strikes, and many more.
Electronic warfare jamming has also become crucial to the conflict, allowing each side to divert the other’s drones.
