Sunday, September 21, 2008

Discussion 3 - 9/22/08

Hi Folks! Thanks for logging in.

Here's a little known fact about me . . . I'm a huge Vietnam war buff. I had a fantastic history professor in college who turned me onto Vietnam history (thank you David Stroud!). He was a war vet, and he required that we read A Rumor of War by Pulitzer-winning author Phillip Caputo. It opened my eyes to the daily struggles of life through the eyes of a Vietnam soldier.

So yesterday I went to the bookstore and ran across a book very much like A Rumor of War, except it's about Fallujah instead of Vietnam. It's House to House by David Bellavia. I didn't know if this book would hold my interest, or if the war in the middle east is still too raw to be viewed in retrospect through the eyes of a soldier.

Well, my interest held just fine. If I have bags under my eyes this week it's because I cannot put this book down. So in honor of my new read, I would like for you to take a look at some interesting new military technology that the army is working on. For your post, please let me know what you think about any of the new pieces of technology. Or any other new piece of military technology that you may have read about. Please feel free to do extra reading about new military technology before you blog.

Here's the link:

http://tinyurl.com/3yplnv

As always, it's a 0 or a 100. Please advance the discussion.

Talk to me . . .

63 comments:

lathan,l-1 said...

hey this is Brian i'm reading a book, thats about real ghost and its fun just to read how they come back to life and they have things they want to finish, so their tyring to come back but their having fun scaring people I the house.

Cole,R-1 said...

The new unmanned techology is cool, because it allows the soldiers to take less risk then they would have previously, and I think that's an amazing thing. If these continue to improve then wars might then be a war between robots rather then a war between men

Tri-Edge said...

I would like to see robots actualy fighting in this war. Not the ones that are controled by humans but the ones that can think for its self and can handle a gun. Of course it has to have a shut off button incase it malfuctions and a self destruct button if it gets captured by the enemy. ;)

Broadway,M-1 said...

i think the saving of human lives at the cost robot is great. I have heard and see on T.V. a robot that goes in and gets wounded soliders.
I also seen a tank like thing that is remote control or can be drove by human.

Gilbreath,J-1 said...

I've heard that technology is advancing rapidly, especially when it comes to warfare.

On a forum I go to called zomgforums.com, I saw pictures a while back, along with an article, that spoke of the J.S.D.D. (Japanese Special Defense Department, or something like that.) creating a large robot around 6 stories tall, with defensive and offensive capabilities. The J.S.D.D. is calling this robot 'Project-G'.

I can't confirm if this rumor is true, since the article was removed after a while, not to mention the site I saw it at is for Otaku. So, it remains a mystery.

Other than that, I'm afraid there's nothing to report on technology, since it involves destroying all God gave us. So, meh.

mcgown,a-1 said...

The new military technology is very interesting, and I see why the soldiers do not want to give the prototypes back. This just goes to show how almost every part of the world is now mostly based in technology. As in the case of the milltary these new inventions are basically saving the lives of the soldiers. These inventions are enabling the soldiers to remain in one location while they aide in the gathering of information.

Calderon,A-1 said...

The technology that the soldiers are having are going to help them alot because it can save too many lifes of soldiers and also can help them to protect them on the battle. and it also can capture alot of the enemies because they can detect where they are "hiding" and those robots are very intelligent so they can help really good to the soldiers to win too many battles.

Thompson,O-1 said...

speaking on new numaned tech. the company my dad works at, lockhied martin. is helping work on a remote/sensor controled bot called M.U.L.E.. there are three types of mules. one can sweep for land mines. another can cary supplies. and the other is a light assult droid that has 2 rockets and a high caliber mechine gun. the assult one can be used as a bullet proof wall for nearby marines also. i have a brosure of it at home.

Ashley Manis said...

I think the FCS systems are an extremely good idea. From the way the soldiers are talking about it, it seems to be a very good advance in military technology. I think its great that they don't have to use dogs or other animals to go check for traps. The robot is much more efficiant anyways. I agree with the guy who said "If the robot gets blown up, oh well. You still have a soldier with you." We have to keep in mind that we're not the only country with advanced technology. If we can make robots, so can others.

arriola,brett-1 said...

UNmanned robots going inside to check stuff out instead of actually people is important because it could have saved so many soldiers. if they improve it even more soon we will be fighting with robots instead of people!

McCorvey,T-1 said...

The technology that i have read about the army is Picatinny Excalibur taking out top al-Qaida operatives firing within 50 meters of dismounted infantrymen.The more you read about technology the more it will seem intresting to learn.

martines,j-1 said...

i think that its a good idea to use robots in the field, that way soildiers cant get hurt. but i also think theres places and things robots cant do that a human can so i think that man is an important factor of war.

Liles, T-1 said...

I cant believe that at the bottom of the article that their is no funding for this program, its such a revolutionary idea in the field of war that maybe shortly in the future, joining the U.S. Military wont be an almost definant death sentence.

murillo, j - 1 said...

the soldier was making better decisions about the robots controlling them making a war between robots and a war between men.

Driver,K- 2 said...

Unmanned robots that can go inside and check out things is cool. We can save way more soldiers if we do things that way. A robot that can do things just like a human has always sound good to me

Baker,M-1 said...

Robots Awesome! Yeah I think that the robots will be helpful in keeping the death toll of war low but I wonder of this isn't a step into becomming an I-Robot nation. And also if we have this technology, won't there be a possibility that our enimies will have it, are developing it or will soon get it? I get the importance but it still has me a little worried.

brittain,w-2 said...

the unmanned and AI computer 'drones' are a big plus for the soldiers but it also makes them a little lazy in some ways because like it said in the article, they missed a training by taking an alternative route. they are a big plus because they can scout out enemies over hills and around walls and such

packard,a-2 said...

first of all i dont like military things it bores me to death!! but i do like the new robot ideas for one because they can save lives and obtain valuble information about the oposing side, but i dont like that they probaly will cost a fortune in tax payers dollars. but overall it's a thumbs up for me.

reed, k - 2 said...

I think that the new robot technology would be good for them to use. This would reduce some of the soldiers deaths in the war because many are killed from traps and amputated by bombs. If we have the robots they could find it before the soldiers run up on it.

mayfield,s-1 said...

ThAT WAS iNTERESTiNG ANd A RObOT ThAT SAVES SOldiERS, ANd i kNOW i WOUld WANT tO hAVE ONE iF i WERE A SOlDiER i WOUld GET iT ANd NEVER giVE iT bACk. =]

allensworth, z-2 said...

the new war technology is a good idea if it works.........but i also think that it will make soldiers slack in their training which could end up pretty bad if they're robot defects in the field and the soldier is left out there with no fliping clue what to do.....it's a two sided thing

Auxier, Emily - 4 said...

When we had a discussion in class about all of the new technology in class i thought it was the coolest thing in the world! The invisible clothes that they are trying to make will help out our troops in so many ways. I also like the thing that they wear that can locate you and tells people if you are in trouble by knowing their heart rate. Its pretty cool =D

Campbell,A-4 said...

I wish the Armed Forces had this kind of tech when the War first started the battles could of ended with less casualties on our side. This tec is very vital in todays urban warefare with all the chokepoints and bottleneck openings in buildins. If this kind of tech could be issued to Police or S.W.A.T ( Speacial Weapons And Tatics) it could help out a lot

och,s-4 said...

I think that the new technology they are coming up with for the soldiers is pretty neat. The article mentioned that if one of the robots gets blown up, so what? It's a robot, not a soldier. That may get a bit expensive if the new technology keeps getting blown up but at least the soldiers aren't losing their lives.

edwards, a - 4 said...

It's nice that the military is using robots instead of real soldiers. It really makes me want to think twice about sending the troops out of Iraq. :) But the bad thing is it's like nuclear bombs and weapons, if everyone (i.e: the world) sees that we're using robots instead of soldiers in combat, they'll start using them and it will be another World War.

allensworth, d4 said...

i think that using unmanned technology for military purposes is a great idea....right now in iraq would be a great time to deploy those technologies....the war is still going on and American soldiers are still dieng but if we use the unmanned robobts and aerial robots then we can save the lifes of our soliders and win this war just as effectively....

borerw-4 said...

The new technology for the soldiers is great because it saves takeing risks with the soldiers lives.The unmanned robots may coast more,alot more,but it saves lives and is less risky.

ferrell, a-4 said...

Im really for all of this new military tech, but the only question/concern is what will happen if they start just strictly training people to opperate these machines. As long as everyone will still be trained as if they didn't have the new technology, then trained with it I will be satisfied. Things can always go wrong, like the robot getting stuck or the plain being shot down. So it would almost be more dangerous for the soldiers if they had not trained without the technology at first.

ferrell, a-4 said...

agreeing with allensworth, z-2....

Brice, R-4 said...

I completly agree with what Zack said. The technology is good but what if it messes up on the field and the soldiers haven't trained ahead of time for this situation. Training with the technology is important but i think it is more vital that the soldier needs to know more about basic training then technology training. Don't get me wrong I think unmaned technology is great but it should't be the only thing a soldier knows.

Lanham said...

Austin . . . I think that's a good point about the training. We should have this technology, but we shouldn't rely solely on it because, as we all know, technology can sometimes be wonky. Our guys will stll have to know hand-to-hand combat.

Chase . . . Lockheed Martin. Cool beans. There is no telling what they are developing behind those closed doors.

Ashley . . . I like your point about our opponents being able to develop their own technology. I would like to know what's going on on the other side. I bet opposing forces probably don't post their advanced technology on the internet for all to see, yanno?

allensworth, d4 said...

Zach's comment was the best......

wallace,c-6 said...

thats crazy, i cant believe what all they have come up with these days. i also wonder how much they have that we dont know about. ive seen on the history channel where they were talkin about military technology and planes/ jets. they are comming out with a plane that has a lazor beam that shoots out of the front with some kind of energy from the sun that can evaporize a fighter jet from 100 miles away.

Abdul-786 said...

this technology is pretty cool. it probably will will help u.s soliders. but everybody else will come up with this technology in a few years and then all the strong forces of the world will have this technology and its not goona be cool.

Meredith,B-6 said...

The new unmmanned tech will be a good asset because not only will it save lives it will let soldiers know what there going into like whats on the other side of a wall or hill or in a tunnel or somthing so that they're not just walking in blind...so yeah i think this new tech is cool and in great need

Cuarenta,A-6 said...

i think its a good idea to send robots in place of the soldiers into situations that are too risky...
but it would be better if we had WORLD PEACE!!!! -but u know thats NEVER gona happen!!

Sauceda, Maria=]- 6 said...

The new military technology people are coming up with is really helpful and i believe it could save a soldiers life. The sensors and how they can detect a possible bomb is kinda helpful. I think robots are going to have a greater part in war in the future and even may do the fighting.

Bixler,T-6 said...

I think it is awsome it helps bring home military home safely. I know the family of the milatary feel a little bit better of letting them go off. It makes me feel better about going in to the navy also.

Byrd,N-6 said...

New unmanned technology is great because it allows are men to fight the enemy without putting themselves in harms way. But I have to wonder as our technology grows and the AI becomes smarter can it one day become smart enough to not need any human control at all? If this happened could it turn on us? Could we actually see a world ruled by machines? Time will tell.

Lopez, M-1~☺ said...

It's pretty interesting that they are using robots for combat. They really should do that more often to save others. But not just that, they possibly could use them as spies. Even if they get caught, information will travel back towards that base.

Morgan,R-7 said...

i would likes to see some robots that fighting into the war.... i hope it least the risk at the war... there has more the technology there what the soilders needed i hoped it could better than human doin bc i didnt see the people death out there of war. so i think the robots can be better!!! but i didnt believe in Bush but i have to listen to him becuase he is a president anyways! i hoping the war is getting more better than before anyways

Copeland, Juston7 said...

i think that it is cool for the soldiers to be able see inside of buildings because of the unmanned vehicle. But i also think that more training will be needed in case of someone sneaking up on them while they are trying to use the new technology

Trikosko, M-1 said...

This is a cool idea, i've heard about using robots in the military, but I didn't know is was so close to acutaly being used. Before you know it we will have even better robots that will do the fighting for us, like some kind of sci-fi movie.

lee, s - 7 said...

Well, Who will help them make find any thing in base to enemy movement. Solder will help him use robot how to use that get to enemy movement.

Dietrich,R-3 said...

I think that having that robot thing is cool now less people will die or get shot or run in to a booby trap, now they need to give the robot thing rockets and lazer cannons and be able to lob grenades. also they should make it bullet proof (if they haven't already) but they need to give it a super death saw that will kill all who apose it. also it needs a kool-aid despenser and a flamethrower. that would be the coolest robot flying thing EVER.

Gonzalez, C-1 said...

I would think that using droids to go in for field ops is a good idea but as it said the soldiers lose valuable experience. The droids are not indestructable and so they should train for both just for the precautionary. Also the drawback is the fact that all tech can be hacked. So if they get there hands on one of those little buggers they may be able to reverse the feed and figure out the location of where the droid is being controlled from. Not only that they may be able to use it against us.

robles,l-3 said...

I think that the new militaty technology is realy usefull. this allows our men to take a low risk in a war. i think that in the futer more technology will be use insted of our own poeple. this will help our population expand even more.

Hollingsworth,C-1 said...

The army is looking at brain wave communication, because it would be "secure" and "free of background noise" compared to a radio on the battle field. But I think that if they some how find out how to do this there are going to be a lot of random thoughts. "oh look that cloud looks like a puppy!" I don't think this is going to work. Peoples thoughts wander.

Rigsby,D-1 said...

Ya like Ray said if the Techology keep geting better then we might not be fighting man vs man. But maybe techology vs techology.

lathan,l-1 said...

I like the way they are using the techology. And the big black machine for the war is cool, the way the are using it is well ok but kind of cool. it is the way of how they use the techology in the world, I like how they are working like partner to get what they need to get done.

Johnson,O-2 said...

If you ever seen the movie "All Quiet on the Western Front" you would know that war is not a pretty thing. I know that sometimes war can't help but spring its ugly head, but it’s like telling high schoolers not to fight in school. I mean if can’t even stop that then.....you get my point. But having technology in the military can be a helpful way to save lives in war. So a big yes with the little robot helpers!

tutt,matthew said...

Tech on the battlefield makes war safer for guys on the ground. It puts something replaceable in place soldiers.

Hernandez, Ruben 3rd said...

I think that the new technology is a good thing and that we should continue inventing new stuff, but we should think about the cost.

edlin said...

I think that the technology that the soldiers are using is good. because they take less risk and hopefully they start putting robots to save human lives.

cruz,raymond,a-class3 said...

I think that the new technology that they have been testing sounds like a really good idea, because it will allow soldiers to not have to go fight.Its really cool how mostly everthing now is based on technology and its allowing soldiers to play with all these cool gagets.lol, but seeing robots fight our enemy would be awsome.

Lanham said...

graded

cano,ruben-7 said...

new systems like the robots, sensors and information on the battlefield translate to more troops coming home alive. This new Technology really works when you are in the war specially if you are in the front line.

-I watch on the Discovery channel
that they are making new weapons for the soldiers on the front line..those guns are pretty sweet!!-

anderson,p-3 said...

it would be really neat to have a robot instead of using actual people because it would save alot of lives but it would talk alot of work

garrett,k-4 said...

me,im not really a technology type of person but the stuff listed in the article sound really interesting and useful.using robots is a wonderful idea so that the soldiers are a lil more protected. technology is becoming more advanced by the second. no telling how advanced tehnology will be by the year 2015. we mite not need humans for war at all by then just let robots do all the fighting.

Jones-C-1 said...

Unmanned technology is a huge leap into the future. Not only does it keep our soliders safe but it also opens up many different ways to have warfare.

chanelectronic said...

I thought I had posted this week - but apparently not.

so here goes:
I don't blame the soliders for not giving the robots back. Anything that perserves my life for 20 seconds longer, I'm all for. I totally agree with what Mr. Cole, and Mr. Veasey said. This is truly an advancement for technology, and medical advancement, according to Mr. Broadway. However, It would be pretty trippy if this got out of hand, because then we could create realistic human robots to handle terrioristic negiotations and confritations against other countries, or tanks that are being controlled with programs from thousands of miles away could be hacked into by our opponents, and sent to demolish us instead. There are just so many possibles that are cool with this, and then so many things that could go wrong with it.

villanueva, manuel, N. 1 said...

Man its crazy how technology is getting better every second, but I think that robots would be great for the soldies. Anthing that will make protect soldiers and bring them home safely, im all for it.

allensworth, d4 said...

personally, i think that the people complaining about this issue, are just mad because the canidate they voted for didnt win and they want a revote and a recount....since voting is so private and confidencial now, there is really no way that anyone could prove if there was a problem with someone's vote or not