Comment by abraxas | Hacker News Reader

Comment by abraxas | Hacker News Reader

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Yeah, the day I saw one of those I thought this will end up with a gun turret rather quickly. When they gain a lot of autonomy war will become absolutely unberable for most soldiers. Death and dismemberment will be coming from all directions, totally unexpected. The tatatata rifle style combat is nearly obsolete. One stat I read was that in the Russian war on Ukraine about 90% of combat deaths and injuries are from artillery fire and drones rather than direct infantry combat. It's already changing the face of war drastically. But maybe we can eventually get to a form of MAD where in war drones fight other drones and war ends when one side runs out of its robots?

Artillery has been the number one cause of combat casualties since World War I. The tech is obviously changing, but soldiers dying out of sight of the enemy is not new.

What happens when one side runs out of robots?

I can tell you what will happen in the current war. If Ukraine runs out of robots/bullets/soldiers, the russian soldiers will march forward, plant flags, steal homes, and rape and slaughter civilians, as they have been doing for years. So I don’t think this form of MAD is actually any more peaceful.

Russia already has the advantage of more manpower. And theres nothing Ukraine could do about it, it is just the significantly smaller country, both in terms of population and size. I think robots could provide a balance. For robots you need money and global access to parts. The collective West has more money and better access to parts. Hence, as long as the US/EU is willing to support Ukraine, robots could turn the cards into Ukraine's favor.

You are right and I agree with you, but that point is neither here nor there.

yeah, I agree in this case. But maybe with a more rational actor this would prove effective. Or maybe I'm deluding myself because rational actors don't launch wars to begin with.

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