Robodogs, laser beams and microwaves: weapons that could decide future wars

As conflicts are increasingly fought with unmanned drones, Taz Ali looks at what other arms will shape battles to come

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Laser beams, robodogs and drone-zapping microwaves, these are the types of weapons that could be deployed on battlefields in the not too distant future.

Some are already here. The threat of a wider war in Europe feels increasingly real to many on the continent, after Russia's drone incursion into Poland sparked fears that Russian aggression will continue to spill beyond Ukraine's borders.

The Ukraine war has revolutionised military conflict, with futuristic weapons, such as fibre-optic drones that are immune to jamming and radio frequency detection, drone protection nets, and ground robots, all used by Moscow and Kyiv's forces.

Now, weapons being developed and tested by the biggest militaries in the world are making science fiction a reality, with ever increasing reliance on artificial intelligence (AI).

Defence experts have acknowledged the dystopian reality created by the use of robotic and autonomous weapons, as critics warn against delegating life-and-death decisions to machines.

Lt Col Jahara “Franky” Matisek, is a US Air Force command pilot and command centre director at the US Northern Command. He told The Independent: “Ultimately, science fiction has to now meet supply chains, where minerals, rare earths, and other metals become strategic chokepoints — mostly controlled by China - for acquiring the needed materials to make drones, batteries, lasers, AI-enabled hardware, and numerous other ‘futuristic’ weapon systems. “Lasers and microwaves make drones cheap to defeat, not to mention EW (electronic warfare) interrupting drones as well; and, of course, AI accelerates decision-making,” he said. “But judgement and logistics remain irreplaceable.”

His sentiments were shared by Patrick Wilcken, a researcher on military, security and policing at Amnesty International, who warned of the moral, ethical and legal risks posed by such weapons.