Mechanization has touched all aspects of life today leaving very little for a man to do. We have machines to wash our clothes, to store our food, and clean our house. In such a situation one shouldn’t be shocked to see a robot taking the place of a soldier on the battlefield. Yes! The terminator film is all set to be a reality soon.
Technology today has taken over the battlefield replacing a man with a robot. It could be called an incredible achievement to see that a robot will be guarding our country against the enemy forces. It has been found that 8,000 robots are already in use in the British army. Looks like Britain will leave the rest of the world behind in the use of technology!
The robots are designed to do non-combat tasks like bomb disposal although Bob Quin who works as a US subsidiary for British robot manufacturers is of the opinion that we will have more equipped robots on the battlefield to perform functions other than just bomb disposal. He is expecting to have something like a driver-less vehicle sometime in the future. However, he says that the robot must function only under the control of a soldier and never independently to make sure it does only what is required.
The spontaneous reaction of the robot is something that can be more effective and useful in a war situation than a usual human reaction that cannot go beyond a curse. It has the capacity to shoot a cannon shell in mid-air before one can realize its arrival. You may ask how a fully automatic robot will recognize its enemy. Its makers say that the secret lies in the way you program your soldier. This is especially important when a driver-less military vehicle is on the field.
Another striking feature of this brave warrior is that it can refuel itself by consuming the corpses on the battlefield. This is probably the only machine that can refuel itself without human effort. Never before was a war so automatic! The issue of emotions of the robot is a question of a slight dispute among the experts. Some are of the opinion that the use of robots can help us avoid committing blunders of irresponsibility or indecisiveness during the war.
Yet another group is of the opinion that the robots may lack the war ethics of the soldiers which may serve as a big hindrance to the war-front. While this debate continues the robot soldiers are already being widely used in different parts of the world and seem to have to give quite an appealing result. We are yet to see if they serve as lifesavers or the human soldiers will be considered a better option in the years to come.
However he says that the robot must function only under the control of a soldier and never independently to make sure it does only what is required.