Drones and especially armed drones have been one of the most remarkable advances in military technology. In 2001 they were looked upon as interesting toys. Today they are acknowledged as serious, game-changing weapons. In the battle against ISIS in Iraq we will see what they can and cannot do. If they can keep ISIS units from moving undetected and if they can attack ISIS units wherever found, then drones will have come of age. The advantage of armed drones is a shortened "kill chain", ( I love that term!). meaning the time between when a target is detected and when ordnance is delivered is very short. In the early days, a drone might see a target, but no action could be taken until an armed aircraft arrived over the target. Now, it's - see it - kill it. Armed drones can deliver a " kinetic effect', ( another term I love), in minutes from detecting a hostile. It is only a short stretch of time until they can do this autonomously, without human intervention. It will like an automated bug zapper. You merely program the weapon system to kill the individuals, groups or nations that you want killed, and then go to the beach and relax while all this is being done for you. I'm being facetious, of course.

Autonomy is really the Achilles’ heel. The foremost of all skills is common sense. Computers don’t have common sense and I doubt they ever will.

Autonomous weapons systems are already in service and have been for several years. The Phalanx Close-In Weapons System ( CIWS) and similar systems used aboard naval vessels for protection against sea-skimmer missiles operates in autonomous mode when in a hostile environment. When it's radar detects a target that meets it's engagement criteria, it fires automatically when the target is within range and without any human intervention. And, that's the way it has to be. A sea skimmer won't be detected until it's very close and there is no time to think about it. As stealth technology improves this will be true of many other threats and there will be a need for more autonomous defense systems. It's a short jump from there to autonomous offensive systems. An place where this may have application is anti-submarine warfare. Once a contact is established a kill sequence is initiated. If humans did a better job of Observe, Orient, Decide, Act ( OODA), we wouldn't be at risk of losing our job to machines. Technology has advanced to the point that we now have a style of warfare that humans can't control. Osama Bin Laden had been under drone surveillance for a long time, back many years ago. He could have been killed by a drone anytime authorization was given. Humans hesitated and we saw the result. I maintain that humans are the weak link in the chain.

Having been an engineer in the defense industry I think you give a bit much credit to the machine and computer+signal_processing. 1st of all the drone is a human concept, then designed and built by humans. It is up to the human to be the ultimate decision maker "where and when to use the drone". The system can be closed loop system which means that once given the command it can accept all kinds of new and different variables and account for them with a new correct answer in this case the drone staying on target despite storms, enemy EMI, moving targets, etc. This makes it somewhat autonomous after having been launched, but still there is a kill switch.

Now don´t forget that a drone consists of electronics and currently there are plenty of countermeasures for electronics. And as soon as you have built a new gizmo, someone will find a way to counter it. You will never be able to take the human factor out of warfare.

Originally Posted by Kesse81

Now don´t forget that a drone consists of electronics and currently there are plenty of countermeasures for electronics. And as soon as you have built a new gizmo, someone will find a way to counter it. You will never be able to take the human factor out of warfare.

You have stated the bottom line wonderfully, I couldn't agree more. Also since they are designed by human they will never be completely free of bugs or unforeseen issues.