after initial examination the prospect of a mobile robotic missile launcher marries concerns
given that technology is advancing to the point where autonomous weapon systems have the ability
to maneuver in combat while tracking targeting and even destroying enemies without human intervention
however the u.s army has tracked this issue for years to ensure the technological advances do
not exceed military doctrine the military doesn't want to see a terminator any time soon the idea
is to harness and integrate the best attributes of human cognition and machine-enabled autonomy
therefore the pentagon's top priority in the area of autonomous weapons is to ensure that any and
all decisions regarding the use of lethal force are left to humans it is in this context that
weapons developers continue to rapidly advance autonomous systems within the framework of manned
unmanned teams and human machine interfaces the idea is to harness and integrate the best
attributes of human cognition and machine-enabled autonomy to optimize combat effectiveness
the guidance we receive from our most senior leaders is to use capabilities
such as artificial intelligence or advanced robotics to augment soldiers not necessarily
replace them major general john rafferty director of the army futures command team
cross-functional precision fires told the national interest in an interview
after d explains this in the context of a recent technological breakthrough at the army ground
vehicle system center where state-of-the-art autonomous devices were integrated into the
high-mobility artillery rocket system h-i-m-a-r-s h-i-m-a-r-s has become a vital weapon system for
the u.s army as it provides the ability to maneuver with mobile launchers and strike
targets up to 300 miles away connecting manned h-i-m-a-r-s to unmanned h-i-m-a-r-s
explains rafferty brings a paradigm-shifting battle multiplier
we are developing a prototype now for an autonomous launcher that will help thicken
the strength of our him ars rocket launcher fleet the way we developed the concept was really manned
h-i-m-a-r accompanied by unmanned h-i-m-a-r-s the unmanned h-i-m-a-r-s helps to thicken the
force and can help reduce the risk to the manned platform and provide more firepower said rafferty
as algorithms advance weapons developers hope to take advantage of the advantages
that ai-enabled weapons machines and systems offer for processing analysis and procedural
tasks most importantly they will keep humans in a decision-making capacity
through this approach more subjective determinations relating to a number of less
quantifiable variables can be left to the unique attributes of human decision-making while sensing
targeting and data organization and analysis can be performed by machines this synergy rafferty
and other weapons developers explain introduces an entirely new high-speed operational dynamic
we see the targeting process as an unmanned team the commander begins with a list of high-yield
targets and their target selection standards the level of accuracy and precision and latency
associated with the target information and then an attack guidance matrix if we find a target
what system do we use to attack it that's a manned portion rafferty said
are undoubtedly things that machines can do exponentially faster than humans but there
are also key decision-making functions that humans are best at handling therefore combining the two
results in a new level of high-speed and accurate attack capability shortening the sensor-to-shooter
timeline unmanned h-i-m-a-r-s for example can monitor targets from a forward location while
waiting for specific attack orders from human decision makers this as rafferty explains thickens
the battlefield by increasing range and firepower while also lowering the risk to human soldiers
we can use machines to follow rules and speed up most processes and avoid humans pushing buttons
by making the engine follow those rules we think
we can do it accurately and obviously much faster in the targeting process
that's how i would describe this unmanned team and human machine interface said rafferty