Robot Cannon Deaths Probably Not Fault Of Robot
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Friday, 19 of October , 2007 at 10:05 pm
In South Africa last Friday, an automated anti-aircraft cannon suffered a malfunction and went out of control, killing 9 soldiers and injuring 14. Initial reports suggested that it may have been a software error that caused the Oerlikon 35mm MK5 gun to “open fire uncontrollably,” but according to experts, the incident was more likely a mechanical failure and not due to some sort of robot freak-out.
We should clarify that although the anti-aircraft cannon was “automated,” it’s not technically “robotic.” Specifically, the gun will load itself and automatically track targets, but it will not fire by itself: a human operator has to do that. It’s essentially a remote controlled weapon, and shares that characteristic with many other weapons systems currently in use. The crucial distinction here is that the decision making process is centered around a person and not a computer. Of course, that doesn’t prevent something from going wrong, but according to Jim O’Halloran of defense publication Jane’s Land-Based Air Defense, it’s much more likely that a mechanical failure caused the accident:
“If a shell was jammed in the breech [which is what was observed to happen] and the cordite then fired, it could set off the ammunition in the canisters [which was also observed to happen],” says O’Halloran. The force of that explosion could easily spin the turret around, he notes. “It’s a very tragic accident, but it is not a robot gone out of control.”
It’s probably inevitable that accidents with automated, semi-autonomous, and/or fully robotic weapons systems will happen. But the idea behind all of these systems, and I think it’s a good one, is to remove humans from dangerous areas completely. Imagine if this anti-aircraft gun HAD been robotic instead of automated… Nobody would have been injured, because nobody would have been around.
VIA [ New Scientist ] and [ Danger Room ]
Comments (2)
Category: Military
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Comment by Jaime
Made Saturday, 20 of October , 2007 at 12:42 pm
Do you count the targets of such weapons? There sure is nobody -alive- around after the decision was made to fire… Hard to expect from weapons not to arm anybody!
Let human fools shoot at each other without putting in the loop a full robotic/ai autonomous entity, arf too late my video games are full of those.
Comment by dylan
Made Friday, 4 of April , 2008 at 9:22 am
i think the famlies of the soldiers should so the army and get a ton of money.
