Game Warriors, Ministry Of Peace Needs You!
Wednesday, July 21st, 2010Gaming seems to have become the new dominant learning tool for American youth, just as texting is the dominant language teaching tool. If you can’t spell, you are not likely to be a very good texter. I am not sure how games are good tools for anyone but drone pilots. But since the military is rapidly robotizing its force, there will soon be robot infantry with pilots for each robotic soldier. Wars then will truly be like video games for the American side. The other side is another story, flesh and blood warriors and their own low tech versions of robots and drones. These will be most likely in the form of hidden incendiary devices designed to target the robots, and missiles for the drones. They will employ hackers to break into the drone and robot soldier software and try to turn them on their own side. Perhaps turn the robot soldiers into suicide warriors who blow up when they get back to base, killing the maintenance crews that service them. I doubt if they will be able to get to the pilots who might not even be in country.
Future wars are already here. This is from the product catalog on line for TALON military robots. They have been used in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“TALON Family of Military, Tactical, EOD, MAARS, CBRNE, Hazmat, SWAT and Dragon Runner Robots
TALON Operations is in the process of building several distinct “families” of robots that will be able to perform a variety of tasks, and will all be operated with one universal control unit. Today, TALON Ground Robotics includes four “families” that are easily distinguished by size: small, medium, large and extra large. Their names are Dragon Runner™ (15 to 50 lb), TALON® (80 to180 lb), MAARS™ (300 to 400 lb)and TAGS-CX (5,000 to 6,000 lb) and they are all controlled with one new Digital Control Unit (DCU).
How are TALON robots different from other robots on the market?
Man-portable — At about 115 lb (52 kg), TALON can be easily transported and is instantly ready for operation.
Rugged — TALON robots can take a punch and stay in the fight. One was blown off the roof of a Humvee in Iraq while the Humvee was crossing a bridge over a river. TALON flew off the bridge and plunged into the river below. Soldiers later used its operator control unit to drive the robot back out of the river and up onto the bank so they could retrieve it.
Fast — TALON is the fastest robot on the market today easily keeping pace with a running soldier.
High payload capacity — Long-term system versatility optimizes investment. TALON has the highest payload capacity and payload-to-weight ratio, allowing for the incorporation of a broad array of sensor packages.
Mobile — Climbs stairs, negotiates rock piles, overcomes concertina wire, plows through snow.
Intuitive — Easiest robot to operate; joystick controls; quad screen display.
Outstanding situational awareness — Can hold up to four color cameras, including night vision, thermal and zoom options.
Withstands repeated decontamination — Demonstrated at Ground Zero after 2001 World Trade Center attack in New York City. Electronics withstood 45 straight days of being decontaminated twice a day without failing.
EOD Robots
TALON EOD robots have been in continuous, active military service since 2000 when they were successfully used in Bosnia for the safe movement and disposal of live grenades. They were the only American-made robots successfully used at Ground Zero in search and recovery efforts after the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center and the only robots to last through the entire mission without requiring a major repair.
TALON EOD robots were the first military robots taken into Afghanistan during action against the Taliban and Osama bin Laden in February 2002. They initially accompanied the Special Forces on a Classified mission, and are still there now doing EOD work. They were on the ground in Kuwait when coalition forces massed in 2003 and have been in Iraq ever since performing EOD/IED (improvised explosive device) missions.
SWORDS Robots
Editor’s Note: Contrary to what you may have read on other web sites or seen on television, there actually have been NO instances of uncommanded or unexpected movements by SWORDS robots, whether in-theater or elsewhere, since before their safety confirmation in 2006. (In 2006, during the robot’s developmental stage, there were three minor movement issues involving the treads that were identified, addressed and fixed during rigorous stateside testing. Then the robots were safety certified, and three were subsequently sent to Iraq. In April, 2008, it was inaccurately reported that they had been withdrawn from Iraq shortly after their deployment. NOT TRUE. They were NEVER “abruptly withdrawn” from Iraq and in fact stayed in theater until 2009.
SWORDS’ successor, introduced more than a year ago, is the robot we have named MAARS®. Scroll down to read more about our purpose-built MAARS robots.
TALON SWAT/MP
TALON’s multi-mission family of robots includes one specifically equipped for tactical scenarios frequently encountered by police SWAT units and MPs in all branches of the military. TALON SWAT/MP is a tactical robot that can be configured with a loudspeaker and audio receiver, night vision and thermal cameras and a choice of weapons for a lethal or less-than-lethal response.
MAARS Robot
MAARS (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System) introduces a new modular design to its popular family of TALON® robots for military and first responders.
MAARS uses the more powerful M240B medium machine gun and has significant improvements in command and control, situational awareness, maneuverability, mobility, lethality and safety compared to its SWORDS predecessor. MAARS and SWORDS are ROV’s (remotely operated vehicles). They are not autonomous.
The purpose-built MAARS chassis provides a uni-body frame with easier battery and electronics accessibility. Other features include a larger payload bay, higher torque, creating faster ground speeds and improved braking. The new Digital Control Unit (DCU)significantly improves command and control and situational awareness for the operator resulting in greater safety margins. The complete system weighs about 350 pounds.
MAARS also now comes with a manipulator arm having a nominal 120 lb lift capability. The arm can quickly replace the turret mounted M240B weapon, literally transforming MAARS from a remote weapons platform for force protection to an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) identification and neutralization tool. The MAARS robot will not only permit units to employ multiple mission payloads but production of common chassis and DCUs will also lead to economies of scale resulting in lowered customer costs.
Additional modules currently under development include a logistics basket for carrying gear and a battlefield recovery module that can be used as a stretcher.
To request service or get further information, please visit www.TalonRobots.com.”
These machines and others like them are the future armies of the USA as casualty counts become increasingly unacceptable for the American public, robots will be able to take the hits and provide the mass murder capabilities that the American military machine requires. It is unlikely that they will be used for domestic crowd control at least until mob violence becomes endemic when the resource crisis reaches a boiling point. By 2020 when things will really begin to fall apart domestically these robotic warriors should be ready to deploy in the hands of technicians who have no contact with their targets. To ensure that the operators don’t become queasy, human targets will be rendered on their screens as cartoon characters and the kills will be seen as the characters getting slammed on the head with a 10 ton weight or other equally non threatening symbols of the kill sans the blood and guts of the real scene. Recordings of the actual destruction will be made for verification but kept under top secret classification to avoid any chance of the imagery reaching the public which will be fed Pablum and happy talk instead.
- Ministry of Truth – C.C. Ministry of Peace
On other matters it is a gray day here in Long Beach. It was cold enough to need a blanket sleeping last night. This is strange weather for the last part of July in Southern California. It is more like San Francisco weather.
I am getting back into Roman reenactment stuff. There seems to be a lot more interest in reenacting in the country. Sort of a getting back to the roots in a romanticized version of the ancient Roman world, minus the slaves, and the blood, reenactors don’t get killed, at least not by one another. I am not sure what I want to do with these people. I am probably too old for this stuff. But I like the interest in history. My own interest is more in study than reenactment. I mostly am interested in sharing historical information than in how to recreate the ancient Roman world. I don’t think it is likely although if enough people were interested they could probably create a miniature society and take over a town or two in the mid-west somewhere. Other than that, it is just fun and games. But then for that matter so is Anarchism in America. It is a game, not something to be taken too seriously, except perhaps when Anarchists disrupt events like the G-8 summit or now the G-20 summit or when they battle with representatives of the ministry of peace.