Future War: Drones That Talk To Each Other And Coordinate An Attack

Source: Georgia Tech Research Institute. Alberto Cuadra and Peter Finn/The Washington Post. Published on September 19, 2011, 10:39 p.m.

A Future For Drones: Automated Killing -- Washington Post

One afternoon last fall at Fort Benning, Ga., two model-size planes took off, climbed to 800 and 1,000 feet, and began criss-crossing the military base in search of an orange, green and blue tarp.

The automated, unpiloted planes worked on their own, with no human guidance, no hand on any control.

After 20 minutes, one of the aircraft, carrying a computer that processed images from an onboard camera, zeroed in on the tarp and contacted the second plane, which flew nearby and used its own sensors to examine the colorful object. Then one of the aircraft signaled to an unmanned car on the ground so it could take a final, close-up look.

Target confirmed.

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My Comment: We are still a long way from developing weapon platforms that will make human commanders and their political bosses comfortable to sign-off on. But with warfare becoming increasingly influence by rules of engagement and law-fare, I expect these systems (or some of them) will be developed to give senior officials and politicians "cover" in the event that something goes wrong.