Robo Cop
Robot soldiers' bound for Iraq
The US military is planning to deploy robots armed with machine-guns to wage war against insurgents in Iraq.
Eighteen of the 1m-high robots, equipped with cameras and operated by remote control, are going to Iraq this spring, the Associated Press reports.
The machine is based on a robot already used by the military to disable bombs.
Officials say the robot warrior is fast, accurate and will track and attack the enemy with relatively little risk to the lives of US soldiers.
Unlike its human counterparts, the armed robot does not require food, clothing, training, motivation or a pension.
Unlike its human operator?
This would seem to be something of a wash financially, given a cost of $200,000 per unit. Perhaps the bots will save the lives of soldiers, though if that were really a top priority, military planners would have invested in armor for humvees to protect against roadside bombs.
The irony here would be if the popularity of these machines increased the military's energy needs such that the US was...um, forced to consider the invasion of yet another oil-rich country.
I wonder if Apple would object to branding these bots "iRaqs"?
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