Robot soldiers bound for Iraq - bbc

[Flibb]

I dunno, its when they send a machine home to replace you I would get worried. Then again my wife said she prfers machines the other day, not shure what she ment???

I could see this system working in defending fixed positions, but driving around? Will be a good way to kill lots of civillians, especially with a M240 on it 7.62mm will be lethal to a couple of miles.

[NiROE]

In one sense having remote weapons could be a good thing, especially when there is one target amongst other people... I'd guess the operator might be under less pressure being in a 'safer' environment, less likely to make a mistake, more likely to hit the intended target...

BUT!

Could it not also make the people operating these things to rely a little too much on technology, how soon before they blame the machine for hitting the wrong target

[Spunkey]

I could see this system working in defending fixed positions, but driving around?

Something more akin to the Sentry Guns in Aliens perhaps?

I'd think £106,000 in the long term is a fraction of the cost to train, pay, kit out, and possibly even bury a single soldier. But as we know, governments are very rarely interested in the long run when it comes to matters like this.

[Zak33]

thank you all....each and every one of you, for doing the right thing and staying cool, and getting on with it.

Cant BEGIN to thank each of you enough. You're all worth your weight in gold

[Lee H]

Cant BEGIN to thank each of you enough. You're all worth your weight in gold

Hmm if that is the case then using this site to get the gold price http://goldinfo.net/gold1.html states that golds at $426.80 per ounce

Now I weigh 70Kgs which is 7000 grams and gold is worth 426.80 per ounce ( 28.350 grams ) so therefore (7000 / 28.350 ) x 426.80 = 105382.71 dollars.

So - How many sentry guns can I buy for myself then

[Stoo]

1

[mr_anderson187]

lol , ill wait till i see one on ebay, maybe they have a cheaper version on there

[TeePee]

This strikes me as a weapon deigned to cause fear to the civilians in Iraq, rather than being particualrly effective. Think of the effect the doodlebugs had on the public during the blitz. They were next to useless as a weapon, but people were scared. Is this really the effect the americans want to achieve?

[Knoxville]

Its all gonna end in tears if they do

[Flibb]

I could understand them putting a heavy barreled accurate rifle on the top of it but a support weapon? They are designed from the ground up to be inacurate, they are designed to supress an area not to knock out a single person. Supose thsi is the next step on from the exploding dogs the Soviets used in WW2

[SilentDeath]

WildmonkeyUK - 70,000 to 70kg

[Bldyannoyed]

thing I was thinking was that this again allows the US military to continue its policy of 0 casualties on its side but masses of casulaties on the enemies, .

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but at present the US death toll stands at over 1400. They need to stop worrying about sending in bigger guns and concentrate on getting the people of iraq on their side. Dont forget that british troops in Basra rarely come under attack. I've been there recently, its quite quiet because we dont make a point of upsetting the local populace with overt displays of force.

(sorry for the long post)