[ryan robertson]
GOOGLE’S FORMER CEO SAYS THE US MILITARY NEEDS TO SCRAP ALL OF ITS TANKS AND REPLACE THEM WITH AI-POWERED DRONES.
SPEAKING AT THE FUTURE INVESTMENT INITIATIVE CONFERENCE IN SAUDI ARABIA, ERIC SCHMIDT STRESSED THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS AND STRATEGIC ADVANTAGES OF DRONES OVER TRADITIONAL TANKS IN MODERN WARFARE.
SCHMIDT, WHO FOUNDED A STARTUP TO MANUFACTURE AUTONOMOUS DRONES THAT ARE RESISTANT TO GPS-JAMMING, BELIEVES DRONE WARFARE WILL EVENTUALLY MAKE TANKS, ARTILLERY, AND MORTARS OBSOLETE.
ERIC SCHMIDT
FORMER GOOGLE CEO
“The world has an awful lot of Tanks those tanks are largely useless now. Those tanks are largely useless now. A $5,000 drone can destroy a $5 million tank. I read somewhere that the US had thousands and thousands of Tanks stored somewhere. Give them away, right, buy a drone instead in fact buy 10 buy 20 buy 50 buy 100.”
AS FORMER CHAIR OF THE U.S. DEFENSE INNOVATION BOARD AND NATIONAL SECURITY COMMISSION ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, SCHMIDT HAS LONG ADVOCATED FOR TECH ADVANCEMENT IN DEFENSE.
HE SAYS RAPID AI DEVELOPMENT COULD TRANSFORM MILITARY CAPABILITIES AS DRAMATICALLY AS NUCLEAR ADVANCEMENTS DID IN THE 20TH CENTURY.
WHILE SCHMIDT SEES BENEFITS IN DRONE WARFARE, HE SAYS WESTERN MILITARIES ARE ADAPTING SLOWLY TO NEW TECHNOLOGIES. AT THE SAME TIME, THE WAR BETWEEN UKRAINE AND RUSSIA IS SHOWING RAPID INNOVATION IN DRONE TACTICS, WITH BOTH SIDES CONTINUALLY UPDATING THEIR STRATEGIES ON A NEAR WEEKLY BASIS
SCHMIDT CERTAINLY ISN’T ALONE IN HIS CRITICISM OF WESTERN MILITARIES. HOWEVER, NOT EVERYONE IS CONVINCED TANKS SHOULD GO THE WAY OF THE DO-DO. PLENTY OF MILITARY ANALYSTS CAUTION TRADITIONAL WEAPONRY, LIKE TANKS, RETAIN THEIR VALUE WHEN SUPPORTED BY STRONG LOGISTICS AND TACTICAL PLANNING.
EVEN IN RECENT CONFLICTS LIKE UKRAINE, TANKS REMAIN CENTRAL TO THE FIGHTING, HIGHLIGHTING THAT WHILE DRONES PROVIDE NEW CAPABILITIES, CONVENTIONAL ARMORED PLATFORMS STILL HAVE A ROLE IN MODERN COMBAT STRATEGY.
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