The U.S. Army Ground Vehicle Systems Center and the U.K. Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) have been working to use autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles at all points within the supply chain, with one of the goals being to “remove more Soldiers from exposure to direct enemy fire.[1]”
These technologies were shown in a 2019 demonstration called Coalition Assured Autonomous Resupply (CAAR)[2], which displayed how automated ground vehicles and drones could be used to create semi-autonomous logistics convoys, and how these convoys solve the last-mile problem[3]. The hardware shown is certainly impressive looking, some even having mounted weapon systems, but there are several problems not addressed in the demonstration video.
First, for logistics convoys, the last mile can be in an active combat zone. It is good that troops are not put in danger while delivering supplies, but has the defensibility of these semi-autonomous logistics convoys been considered? Supply chains are valid targets in any type of conflict, and they are the primary target when the enemy is using 4GW tactics.
The second problem is just how "semi-autonomous" are these semi-autonomous logistics convoys? What aspects were automated - movement, weapon control, or both? Are the weapon systems “man-in-the-loop” or “man-on-the-loop” or “man-out-of-the-loop”? Most military ethicists seem to be happy with the first two options, but there is at least one[4] who is against man-out-of-the-loop systems.
The third problem is related to the location of the individuals controlling these robots. The remote-controlled weapon systems used during World War I, the Winter War, and World War II (the German “Ferlenkboot”, the Soviet "teletank", and the Nazi’s “Goliath tracked mine," respectively) all required the pilot to be in somewhat close proximity to the remote-controlled weapon. This is no longer true with contemporary unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). For example, the drone that killed Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen in 2011 was controlled by a CIA pilot located at the Creech Air Force Base outside Los Vegas, Nevada[5].
Where are the pilots of the semi-autonomous robots and drones located? If the pilots are close to the robots they control, then that undermines the goal of keeping them out of active combat zones. Suppose, however, the pilots are located on the other side of the globe, say in Los Vegas…
When faced against these semi-autonomous logistics convoys, an enemy would consider multiple points of attack: the semi-autonomous vehicles themselves while in motion or at rest, the ground upon which the convoy travels, the start and end points of the convoy, the communications system, and the individuals controlling the convoy. If the pilot is in some place like Los Vegas, then the enemy would have a legitimate target within our borders. That’s a problem!
Footnotes
[1] Allotta, “US, UK coordinate autonomous last-mile resupply.”[2] Dstl, “The Future of Military Logistics | Coalition Assured Autonomous Resupply.”
[3] Allotta, “US, UK coordinate autonomous last-mile resupply.”
[4] Strawser, “Moral Predators: The Duty to Employ Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles.”
[5] Zegart, A. Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence.
Bibliography
Allotta, J. “US, UK coordinate autonomous last-mile resupply” U.S. Army, 25 September 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2024 from https://www.army.mil/article/227647/us_uk_coordinate_autonomous_last_mile_resupply
Dstl, “The Future of Military Logistics | Coalition Assured Autonomous Resupply,” YouTube, 19 September 2019, 2:17, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YqJUJby0wg
Strawser, B. “Moral Predators: The Duty to Employ Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles.” Journal of Military Ethics 9 no. 4, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1080/15027570.2010.536403
Zegart, A. Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence. Princeton University Press, 2022.
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