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by Tyler Durden
December 22, 2024
from
ZeroHedge Website
Image:
The Organic
Prepper
Are Attack Drones
the Next
Global Arms Race?
Billionaire venture capitalist
Joe Lonsdale
is urging for a shift in
U.S. military strategy,
criticizing the costly, failed
attempts
to rebuild nations like
Afghanistan
while championing tech-driven
solutions...
Joe Lonsdale, a co-founder of
Palantir and investor in
Anduril Industries, told podcast host Dave Rubin this
week that he envisions a future where,
...replace traditional combat, minimizing risk
and maximizing efficiency.
Lonsdale argued these innovations can protect
American interests without spilling the blood of U.S. troops.
DAVE RUBIN:
Do you think technology can solve our
[national security] problems?
Wars are going to look very, very
different from now. Even from what they look like right now.
JOE LONSDALE:
This is a big thing.
I think we wasted a ton
of money in Afghanistan. I think we had stupid adventures. I was very
for our technology helping fight and kill thousands of
terrorists.
I was very for eliminating the bad guys. I was very against putting trillions of
dollars into these areas to try to rebuild a broken
civilization, which is not our job to do.
We should have been building our
civilization.
I'm very pro-America, but part of being
pro-America is fighting these wars without sacrificing American
lives and keeping people very scared of us so that we don't have
to fight, and they do what they're supposed to do.
We have a bunch of companies right now that
are kind of replacing the way the primes work.
And so, for example,
in the water, you want to have thousands
or tens of thousands of smart and enabled autonomous
weaponized vessels of different sorts that coordinate
together.
That's what you want.
And then, on the land, you know, we sent 31
tanks to Ukraine, and 20 destroyed.
For the same cost or even less, you could have sent 10,000 tiny
little vehicles that are smart, have weapons on the fight, and
are coordinated.
There are all these new ways you can use mass
production with advanced manufacturing and AI, and you don't put
American lives at risk.
You turn the bad guys, and for much cheaper,
you can do it.
Then the other one is really cool, just mentioned, we have the
enemy also has, like, you see China where they fly hundreds of
thousands of drones. It's crazy.
So we have something called
Epirus, which is
now deployed.
It's like a force field, but it's a burst of
microwave radiation in a cone...
We can turn off hundreds of drones per shot
from miles away.
DAVE RUBIN:
That seems like sort of the next version of
the Iron Dome or something in some sense.
JOE LONSDALE:
It's a little bit like Star Trek.
But you need these sorts of things to fight
back, rather than waste million-dollar missiles to shoot down
one of these drones. And there are so many of them.
What you need is electronic warfare...
So there are all sorts of new things
we're doing that are really cool and taking the best of
Silicon Valley, combining with the best, and by the way, who
doesn't want a really great shield?
This is a great thing for civilization that
it's easier to build shields now. So there's things like this we
need to be doing.
Meanwhile, as
RealClearDefense notes, this is
approaching Terminator shit...
AI's role in maritime warfare brings additional strategic risks.
Autonomous systems and decision-making platforms could alter the
nature of naval conflicts, making engagements faster and less
predictable.
This heightens the risk of escalation in
already tense regions, such as the South China Sea.
Misidentifications or unintended actions by
AI systems could spark conflicts, and the absence of
international agreements on the use of AI in military
applications increases the potential for miscalculations.
For example,
an AI-powered naval drone could perceive
a civilian or non-threatening vessel as hostile, prompting
unnecessary or disproportionate responses.
Such incidents could trigger a chain
reaction in high-tension regions, potentially drawing major
powers into conflict.
On a broader strategic level, AI is altering
the balance of power in maritime security.
Nations with advanced
AI capabilities have a
distinct advantage, as they can integrate sophisticated
technologies into their maritime operations, creating a
technological gap between themselves and less-developed states.
This disparity could lead to a concentration
of power among a few dominant nations, undermining collective
maritime security efforts.
Additionally, adversaries with access to AI
capabilities, such as autonomous naval vessels or intelligent
cyberattack platforms, could challenge the dominance of
traditionally superior navies, leveling the playing field in
asymmetric conflicts.
AI also has strategic implications for economic security. Global
supply chains rely heavily on the safe and efficient movement of
goods across oceans, and disruptions in maritime security could
have severe economic repercussions.
AI-powered systems that enhance port
operations and maritime logistics can mitigate these risks, but
their growing reliance on interconnected digital networks
introduces vulnerabilities that adversaries could exploit.
A targeted cyberattack on a major port or
shipping lane could not only disrupt trade but also destabilize
regional economies and create ripple effects in the global
market.
The integration of AI into maritime security raises ethical and
legal concerns.
Accountability for decisions made by AI systems
is a critical issue, particularly in incidents involving
autonomous vessels or weaponized platforms.
Determining responsibility in the event of an
error or failure becomes challenging when human oversight is
minimal.
Moreover, the unequal access to AI
technologies could exacerbate disparities in maritime security,
leaving smaller nations at a disadvantage compared to
technologically advanced powers.
These challenges could undermine trust among
allies and weaken collaborative efforts to ensure maritime
stability.
Watch the entire interview below (discussion on combat begins at
35:30):
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