DEW, Robotics and a truly new kind of warfare

I'm opening this thread to bring together current information on directed energy weapons (laser, microwave, sonic, particle beam) and robotics (UAVs, UGCs, USVs) in service with the various militaries of the world and how they will effect the way war is waged. I would prefer to keep the discussion focussed on current equipment, field units operating such equipment, what is on the near-term horizon, say the next 2 to 5 years, their tactical application and strategic implications.

By way of starting the discussion here are a few links to bring you up to speed here are a few links on the state of the art, starting with DEWs:

background:

www.heritage.org...
www.ausa.org...
www.fas.org...
www.janes.com...
www.heritage.org...
www.deps.org...
wstiac.alionscience.com...

weapons:

www.spiegel.de...
www.policeone.com...
www.raytheon.com...
www.raytheon.com...
bigpicture.typepad.com...
mae.pennnet.com...

application:

www.jnlwp.com...
frontpagemagazine.com...
www.economist.com...
www.nationaldefensemagazine.org...
www.armytimes.com...

I like this one it will kill you... Yeah!

Yes, that's Metalstorm, quite deadly:

www.metalstorm.com...

I think the next big war will be very much like WW1 in that british troops went out on horseback dressed in red at the start of the war with no idea that warfare was now about trenches and machine guns.

Looking at some of those articles seem to suggest that we only have slightly more advanced weapons, quicker more accurate guns and some rubbish looking robots but i wouldn't be shocked to see some of those beam weapons janes seems to think didn't work get used if anything big kicked off.

that said, if they don't have some major shock in store....

I reckon missile/anti-missile will be a large part of any war for the next decade at least but superhigh altitude flying craft and mass produced drones flown by people with ps3 controllers will move people away from the front lines and increase the combat area over which battles take place, units flying into locations and air battles stretching across the entire sky and right into the upper atmosphere.

as for a ground war, i suspect that if its two nations like china vs america then as soon as no one can afford the time and money it takes to create the high tech munitions and mobile platforms it'll go back to vietnam or ww2 style combat only with more advanced weapons and countermeasures.

I doubt ground fighting will change much until we have either sci-fi shields or worthwhile robots.

Quite right: If I have six ADS's as a battalion commander, I'm able to herd the enemy into tighter and tighter positions, especially if I take the civlian safeties off and go full military power. The enemy will be forced to surrender or die a burning death from a weapon they can't reach or defend against. Imagine a night attack.

I haven't posted the robotics links yet...tomorrow perhaps. Robotics is about 5 to ten years ahead of DEWs in the development and production cycle. There are a rather amazing number deployed already, I'll try to ferret them out for you. The really interesting part about military robotics is how far it's pushed AI development.

" think the next big war will be very much like WW1 in that british troops went out on horseback dressed in red at the start of the war "

No they didn't - khaki was introduced in 1897. No bright uniforms in the Boer War, never mind WWI.

thats the really scary thing, AI in control of turrets and drones, automatic kill zones cutting massive swathes of the world apart in robotic nomans lands.

Seek and destroy drones, robotic terrorists and mechanical assassins - everything from tiny single shot flying bumblebee rockets to giant city stomping mega robots and demolishing machines programed to destroy everything in sight or take out a single target.

Whoever has the most hi-tech factories ready to go when the next war starts will be in the best position, hehs look like china just won then.