Pentagon: The internet needs to be dealt with as if it were an enemy "weapons system"

By Brent Jessop

Global Research, February 2, 2008

Knowledge Driven Revolution.com - 2007-11-19

Information Operation Roadmap Part 3 The Pentagon's Information Operations Roadmap is blunt about the fact that an internet, with the potential for free speech, is in direct opposition to their goals. The internet needs to be dealt with as if it were an enemy "weapons system". The 2003 Pentagon document entitled the Information Operation Roadmap was released to the public after a Freedom of Information Request by the National Security Archive at George Washington University in 2006. A detailed explanation of the major thrust of this document and the significance of information operations or information warfare was described by me here. Computer Network Attack From the Information Operation Roadmap: "When implemented the recommendations of this report will effectively jumpstart a rapid improvement of CNA [Computer Network Attack] capability." - 7 "Enhanced IO [information operations] capabilities for the warfighter, including: ... A robust offensive suite of capabilities to include full-range electronic and computer network attack..." [emphasis mine] - 7 Would the Pentagon use its computer network attack capabilities on the Internet? Fighting the Net "We Must Fight the Net. DoD [Department of Defense] is building an information-centric force. Networks are increasingly the operational center of gravity, and the Department must be prepared to "fight the net." " [emphasis mine] - 6 "DoD's "Defense in Depth" strategy should operate on the premise that the Department will "fight the net" as it would a weapons system." [emphasis mine] - 13 It should come as no surprise that the Pentagon would aggressively attack the "information highway" in their attempt to achieve dominance in information warfare. Donald Rumsfeld's involvement in the Project for a New American Century sheds more light on the need and desire to control information. PNAC Dominating Cyberspace The Project for a New American Century (PNAC) was founded in 1997 with many members that later became the nucleus of the George W. Bush administration. The list includes: Jeb Bush, Dick Cheney, I. Lewis Libby, Donald Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz among many other powerful but less well know names. Their stated purpose was to use a hugely expanded U.S. military to project "American global leadership." In September of 2000, PNAC published a now infamous document entitled Rebuilding America's Defences. This document has a very similar theme as the Pentagon's Information Operations Roadmap which was signed by then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. From Rebuilding America's Defenses: "It is now commonly understood that information and other new technologies... are creating a dynamic that may threaten America's ability to exercise its dominant military power." [emphasis mine] - 4 "Control of space and cyberspace. Much as control of the high seas - and the protection of international commerce - defined global powers in the past, so will control of the new "international commons" be a key to world power in the future. An America incapable of protecting its interests or that of its allies in space or the "infosphere" will find it difficult to exert global political leadership." [emphasis mine] - 51 "Although it may take several decades for the process of transformation to unfold, in time, the art of warfare on air, land, and sea will be vastly different than it is today, and "combat" likely will take place in new dimensions: in space, "cyber-space," and perhaps the world of microbes." [emphasis mine] - 60 For more on Rebuilding America's Defences read this. Internet 2 Part of the Information Operation Roadmap's plans for the internet are to "ensure the graceful degradation of the network rather than its collapse." (pg 45) This is presented in "defensive" terms, but presumably, it is as exclusively defensive as the Department of Defense. As far as the Pentagon is concerned the internet is not all bad, after all, it was the Department of Defense through DARPA that gave us the internet in the first place. The internet is useful not only as a business tool but also is excellent for monitoring and tracking users, acclimatizing people to a virtual world, and developing detailed psychological profiles of every user, among many other Pentagon positives. But, one problem with the current internet is the potential for the dissemination of ideas and information not consistent with US government themes and messages, commonly known as free speech. Naturally, since the plan was to completely dominate the "infosphere," the internet would have to be adjusted or replaced with an upgraded and even more Pentagon friendly successor. In an article by Paul Joseph Watson of Prison Planet.com, he describes the emergence of Internet 2. "The development of "Internet 2" is also designed to create an online caste system whereby the old Internet hubs would be allowed to break down and die, forcing people to use the new taxable, censored and regulated world wide web. If you're struggling to comprehend exactly what the Internet will look like in five years unless we resist this, just look at China and their latest efforts to completely eliminate dissent and anonymity on the web." Conclusion The next article will examine the Pentagon's use of psychological operations or PSYOP and the final article in this series will examine whether or not there are any limits to using information operations on the American public or foreign audiences. © Copyright Brent Jessop, Knowledge Driven Revolution.com , 2007 The url address of this article is: www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=7980

High Treason And Felonies by Ted Lang

High Treason And Felonies

By Ted Lang
2-3-8

The elephant that has been swept under the carpet to protect the Cheney-Bush regime could not go forever unnoticed by the American people. The unending laundry list of so-called "high crimes and misdemeanors" described in Section 4 of Article II, powers of the President, enumerates such treason that even the Founders and writers of the Constitution, in all likelihood, never had the capacity to either imagine or foresee. Section 4 states: "The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." And Bush has gone on record as to what he thinks of the Constitution he swore to protect and uphold. As former Bush Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill pointed out, Bush was obsessed with invading Iraq and going after Saddam Hussein. We will probably never learn of the real reason behind his planned vendetta, but it seems that his need to do so can be summarized thus: Who will rid me of this meddlesome competitor? Dick Cheney saw his opportunity to fill Bush's burning need. Never being able to become the "top gun" in the White House, Cheney saw his chance to provide the solution for Bush's burning quest. As David McCullough pointed out in his John Adams [© 2001, Simon & Schuster ­ New York]: "All the frustrations and feelings of stagnation that went with the vice presidency, all that so many others who followed in the office were to bemoan down the years, were felt intensely by the first Vice President." But with the advent of The Establishment's New World Order launched in reality by the Bush-Clinton dynasties, strict adherence to the Constitution was seen as counterproductive to the agenda requiring the abrogation national sovereignty. Vice President Al Gore was given specific solemn duties in terms of "re-inventing government" and strengthening airline security immediately prior to September 11, 2001. And Cheney saw his opportunity to lead and be an effective Vice President. For it was Cheney that started pressuring the Central Intelligence Agency at their Langley, Virginia headquarters on a seemingly regular scheduled basis seeking to induce the needed intelligence thereby providing Bush with the pretext to pull the trigger on Iraq and Saddam. It was in fact Cheney that initiated inquiries regarding "yellowcake" uranium solicitation by Saddam from South Africa. These inquiries from the office of the Vice President must have been very disturbing for high-level CIA supervisors and managers necessitating immediate verification and a thorough investigation. The first level of inquiry would obviously be localized and be an in-house review, but then progress to where a possible direct investigation of the alleged clandestine activities were said to have been taking place. One of the closest readily accessible and knowledgeable operatives was undercover CIA supervisory operative, Valerie Plame. Plame's cover was the use of her maiden name, and her "occupation" as an international energy trader with the CIA corporate front of Brewster Jennings Associates. The CIA had set up this phony front as far back as 1994. Plame would have had first-hand knowledge of WMD solicitations, especially nuclear ones centered in Africa. Most of the information that follows is from the Wikipedia encyclopedia entry under the title of the "Plame Affair." Having established the Brewster Jennings front, Plame was acknowledged by the CIA to have been a secret operative there from January 1, 2000 forward. She operated in this capacity until exposed by The Establishment's Bilderberg-connected Washington Post and its reporter, Robert Novak, on July 14, 2003. Here is the opening excerpt from Novak's article, entitled "Mission to Niger": "The CIA's decision to send retired diplomat Joseph C. Wilson to Africa in February 2002 to investigate possible Iraqi purchases of uranium was made routinely at a low level without Director George Tenet's knowledge. Remarkably, this produced a political firestorm that has not yet subsided." But if Novak is being honest here when referring to a "routinely "and "low level" inquiry, why did he feel it necessary to investigate and approach high-level "senior officials" in the Cheney-Bush regime? Six paragraphs later, he offers this: "Two senior administration officials told me that Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the Italian report. The CIA says its counterproliferation officials selected Wilson and asked his wife to contact him. 'I will not answer any question about my wife,' Wilson told me. Novak hints at a Plame/Wilson-arranged vacation junket on the taxpayer, playing down the higher level CIA officials' request to Plame and the fact that Wilson offered to pay for the trip himself. Why was it necessary to elevate George Tenet's position by Novak's posturing of the Cheney-initiated inquiry as being routine and low level, yet denigrate former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV's trip to Niger and his report as being less than definitive yet requiring comment from two high-level "senior administration officials" of the Cheney-Bush regime? Consider Novak's second paragraph: "Wilson's report that an Iraqi purchase of uranium yellowcake from Niger was highly unlikely was regarded by the CIA as less than definitive, and it is doubtful Tenet ever saw it. Certainly President Bush did not, before his 2003 State of the Union address, when he attributed reports of attempted Iraqi uranium purchases to the British government. That the British relied on forged documents made Wilson's mission, nearly a year earlier, the basis of furious Democratic accusations of burying intelligence, though the report was forgotten by the time the president spoke." How does Novak know that "certainly President Bush did not" [see the report]? Does Novak's argument seem plausible? It totally disregards and omits the actual source from which the inquiry originated: the office of Vice President Dick Cheney. Why didn't Novak start with the very origin of the Niger question? And Wilson's report was regarded by high-level CIA officials "as less than definitive"? Here's just the opposite view as cited in Wilson's July 6, 2003 editorial piece in The New York Times and taken from the archives of CommonDreams.org: "Given the structure of the consortiums that operated the mines, it would be exceedingly difficult for Niger to transfer uranium to Iraq. Niger's uranium business consists of two mines, Somair and Cominak, which are run by French, Spanish, Japanese, German and Nigerian interests. If the government wanted to remove uranium from a mine, it would have to notify the consortium, which in turn is strictly monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Moreover, because the two mines are closely regulated, quasi-governmental entities, selling uranium would require the approval of the minister of mines, the prime minister and probably the president. In short, there's simply too much oversight over too small an industry for a sale to have transpired." Now isn't this a more plausible observation, and wouldn't it go a long way to ending all doubt as regards the possibility of yellowcake from being secretly shipped to Iraq? Why did Novak choose to ignore this part of Wilson's editorial? And why would the CIA regard Wilson's findings as "less than definitive" given the unlikelihood of the huge and overarching coordinated conspiracy required to pull off a secret transfer of uranium to Iraq? And isn't it possible, that if Tenet wasn't interested, that it might be because such a possibility was so highly implausible and absurd? And who cares what British intelligence might have learned ­ what was our CIA's take on the matter from the getgo? As we all know today, there was intelligence uncovered through Italian media sources, with a somewhat undefined participation in some way by neocon war agitator Michael Ledeen. But Novak takes the neoconspirator approach in ignoring, for the most part, Cheney's role, and plays down Bush's use of those famous 16 words in his January 28, 2003 State of the Union address: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." But much more revealing than those 16 words, is the ENTIRE paragraph documenting Bush's lie, as pointed out by Dennis Hans in his Counterpunch article of July 24, 2004, entitled, "Those 16 Words Still Smell." Here's the entire paragraph taken from Hans citing Bush's January 28, 2003 State of the Union address: "The International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon and was working on five different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb. The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production. Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities. He clearly has much to hide." What utter nonsense! What a pack of unadulterated lies! The CIA was clearly on board with Wilson's findings and saw absolutely no threat from Niger. And as to those aluminum tubes, here's Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting's write-up on July 18, 2003, entitled, "Bush Uranium Lie Is Tip of the Iceberg": "Aluminum tubes: In the State of the Union address and elsewhere, the White House has claimed that Iraq was seeking to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes to use in processing uranium, tubes Bush said would be 'suitable for nuclear weapons production.' But a report in the Washington Post (9/19/02) months before Bush's address noted that leading scientists and former weapons inspectors seriously questioned the administration's explanation ­ pointing out that the tubes, which would be difficult to use for uranium production, were more plausibly intended for artillery rockets. The Post also noted charges that the 'Bush administration is trying to quiet dissent among its own analysts over how to interpret the evidence.' Commendably, some reporters, like NBC's Andrea Mitchell (7/14/03), have questioned the aluminum tubes claim in recent reporting about Bush's State of the Union address." Clearly disenchanted with the "obstructionism" of the intelligence community, Cheney, along with the help of then-Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, set up an independent intelligence operation, Office of Special Plans headed up by neoconservative neoconspirator, Zionist Douglas Feith, that would fit cozily into Bush' nebulous description of "our intelligence sources." Robert Novak, if for no other reason than his inborn curiosity tempered by years of balancing it against legal parameters in getting to the bottom of a story, should have known that attacking Wilson by exposing the latter's wife as a "CIA operative" would blow her cover as well as that of Brewster Jennings, then a nine-year-old successful covert operation with a highly significant security mission. Here's a segment from Wikipedia: "According to Murray S. Waas in the American Prospect of February 12, 2004, the CIA source warned Novak several times against the publication: two 'administration officials' spoke to the FBI and challenged Novak's account about not receiving warnings not to publish Plame's name; according to one of the officials, 'At best, he is parsing words .... At worst, he is lying to his readers and the public. Journalists should not lie, I would think.' Novak's critics argue that after decades as a Washington reporter, Novak was well aware of Plame's CIA status due to the wording he used in his column. A search of the LexisNexis database for the terms 'CIA operative' and 'agency operative' showed Novak had accurately used the terms to describe covert CIA employees, every time they appear in his articles." The primary sources of Novak's supposedly new-found information on Plame were Richard Armitage and Karl Rove. It is now established that Armitage, Bush's former Deputy Secretary of State, serving in that capacity from 2001 until 2005, was Novak's primary "inside source." Armitage was second in command at the State Department formerly headed by Secretary of State, Colin Powell. The third ranking official at the State Department under the Cheney-Bush regime was Marc Grossman. Here's the Wikipedia write-up of this Cheney-Bush character: "Ambassador Grossman was U.S. Ambassador to Turkey from 1994 to 1997. In Turkey, he promoted security cooperation, human rights and democracy, and a vibrant U.S.-Turkish economic relationship. Ambassador Grossman had previously served as the U.S. Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission from 1989 to 1992." It was while at a Washington DC reception held at the residence of the Turkish Ambassador that former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV met Valarie Plame. They later married in 1998, the marriage being his third and her second. The strong ties that Plame had developed with Turkish diplomats and government officials is precisely what made her a valuable US intelligence asset. It has now, once again been revealed recently by fired former FBI linguist and Turkish translator, Sibel Edmonds, that she had uncovered astonishing, incriminating evidence that Turkey, along with Pakistan, was seeking to acquire nuclear military secrets through the United States State Department. Edmonds, along with others, has pointed the finger at Grossman. Grossman was number three at State, while Douglas Feith was number three at Rumsfeld's Pentagon. Contained in the Wikipedia entry under "Douglas Feith," there is this revelation: "Upon leaving the Pentagon, Feith established the Washington, DC law firm of Feith & Zell. His law firm colleague, Marc Zell, was resident in Israel. Three years later, Feith was retained as a lobbyist by the Turkish government. Among other clients, his firm represented defense corporations Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Lockeed Martin and Northrop Grumman are among the largest defense corporations on the US government's paid contractor list, Lockeed being the largest. And again, with Feith, we see the "Turkish connection." Is this why the FBI required a translator in Sibel Edmonds who was fluent in the Turkish language? In an article that succinctly articulates the situation concerning Sibel Edmonds and her gagging by the Cheney-Bush regime, Gary Leupp, in his January 29, 2008 piece for Counterpunch entitled, "We Can't Afford to Let Them Spill the Beans," offers: "Over 120 Israelis were detained after 9/11, some failing polygraph tests when asked about their involvement in intelligence gathering. But they were not held or charged with any illegal activity but rather deported. As former FBI translator and whistle-blower Sibel Edmonds has revealed, there was a curious failure of the government before 9/11 to act upon intelligence pertaining to an al-Qaeda attack. Most importantly Edmonds, defying the gag order that former Attorney General Ashcroft imposed on her in 2002, is implicating Marc Grossman, formerly the number three man in the State Department, in efforts to provide U.S. nuclear secrets to Pakistan and Israel. She suggests this was done through Turkish contacts and Pakistani contacts, including the former head of Pakistan's ISI who funneled funds to Mohamed Atta!" Leupp continues: "Edmonds claims that during her time at the FBI (September 20, 2001 to March 22, 2002) she discovered that intelligence material had been deliberately allowed to accumulate without translation; that inept translators were retained and promoted; and that evidence for traffic in nuclear materials was ignored. More shockingly, she charges that Grossman arranged for Turkish and Israeli Ph.D. students to acquire security clearances to Los Alamos and other nuclear facilities; and that nuclear secrets they acquired were transmitted to Pakistan and to Abdul Qadeer Khan, the 'father of the Islamic bomb,' who in turn was selling nuclear technology to Libya and other nations." Leupp goes on: "She links Grossman to the former Pakistani military intelligence chief Mahmoud Ahmad, a patron of the Taliban who reportedly arranged for a payment of $100,000 to 9/11 ringleader Atta via Pakistani terrorist Saeed Sheikh before the attacks. She suggests that he warned Pakistani and Turkish contacts against dealings with the Brewster Jennings Corp., the CIA front company that Valerie Plame was involved in as part of an effort to infiltrate a nuclear smuggling ring. All very heady stuff, published this month in the Times of London (and largely ignored by the U.S. media). She does not identify Grossman by name in the Times." Why is this blockbuster of a real conspiracy and proven treason against our nation not being reported by the American corporate mainstream media? We know why: the gatekeeper, with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's full approval, is The New York Times, and as I pointed out in my earlier piece quoting news industry insider, Bernard Goldberg, "If the Times decrees a story important, by definition it is important. And when the Times ignores a story ­ or a book or a social trend or an idea ­ then it is invisible." The deliberate outing of covert CIA operative and a CIA front that had been effective for nine years was orchestrated by Vice President Dick Cheney. All of Novak's sources came from that particular office of the Cheney-Bush operation. This occurred while Plame was probably as close as Sibel Edmonds was to exposing the sale of nuclear secrets by "our" State Department to Turkey, Pakistan and Israel. Turkey and Israel have very tight diplomatic and intelligence ties. Only a few months back, Edmonds revealed that in addition to the Israel lobby, American Israel Public Affairs Committee's direct and egregious involvement in the espionage case involving former Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin that it was only the tip of the iceberg. She offered back then that at least FIVE espionage cases could have been made against Israel and its criminal lobby! How has our Zionist MSM handled this? By the way, Sibel Edmonds is Jewish! So the Zionist New York Times is silent, as are the rest of the media in reverence to the Times' dominating role over news and information in America. Isn't it a lot easier to now see why co-traitor and Democrat Nancy Pelosi wants impeachment off the table? If Cheney is impeached, he could be arrested and tried for violating Title 18, Section 794, Part b, which covers espionage operations during time of war. Such a violation is punishable by either death or life in prison. Outing a covert CIA operative is precisely this kind of counter-espionage activity forbidden by this law, as well as is the selling of nuclear military secrets during a time of war. The State Department transfer of nuclear secrets to Turkey eventually found its way to Iran. Curious how Cheney-Bush are using the same approach as succeeded in igniting the war with Iraq towards Iran; yet, Cheney outed Plame who could have provided POSITIVE evidence that Iran DID at least receive nuclear secrets, albeit, however, from the Cheney-Bush crime machine's State Department! It is now easy to understand why there are no impeachment inquiries on the table; it is now also easy to see why there is in effect a "state's secret" gag order on Edmonds; it is also easy to see why there is a gag order on former Lt. COL. Karen Kwiatkowski of Douglas Feith's old office, and yet another on Valerie Plame. And Democrats Waxman, and Leahy, and Reid, and Pelosi, and Clinton all know the dirty, filthy treasonous secrets of the deadly, criminal Cheney-Bush regime. Virtually every member of this criminal dictatorship is guilty of one felony and/or capital offense or another. How asinine is it for US to attack Iran now, and also in light of the highly publicized negative NIE? And if the Cheney-Bush neoconspiracy is a treasonous operation, what about the complicit Democrats in Congress who are now accessories after the fact? And what of the continuing complicity of The New York Times and the rest of the "American" MSM? Our government, its political parties and our media are all corrupt, filthy cesspools in desperate need of a serious cleaning!

© THEODORE E. LANG 2/03/08 All rights reserved

Ted Lang is a political analyst and freelance writer.

SOURCE: http://www.rense.com/general80/treason.htm

SKYNET is HERE: Killer Robot Army In Use

Robots To Patrol Super Bowl - Should We Worry?

It is widely known now that Pentagon has already deployed SWORD robot warriors to slaughter more Iraqis, but now with the increasing bad PR going around about a scary robotized society, the military industrial complex (Northrop Grumman Corp. is a key player) is sending out some friendly robots to let the people know that robots can look after your kids during the football game, and not just mow people down with their laser-precision machine guns.

The MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Northrop Grumman Corp's Remotec TAGS "Tactical Autonomous Ground System") Looks pretty friendly eh?

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Robots ready for Super Bowl kickoff

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Washington Technology
By Alice Lipowicz
02/01/08


http://www.washingtontechnology.com/online/1_1/32185-1.html

Arizona law enforcement agencies will use robots to help maintain security at the Super Bowl to be held Feb. 3 at the University of Phoenix Stadium.

Northrop Grumman Corp. will provide support and repair services for the robots, produced by its Remotec Inc. division.

The robots will assist officers on patrol in a two-square-mile security zone around the stadium. They will assist the Phoenix and Glendale, Ariz. Police departments as well as other federal, state and local agencies at the game.

"We're here to support the event and hopefully go unnoticed by fans. Our job isn't to be a disruption but to keep danger at a distance," said Mack Barber, president of Remotec, an operating unit of Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector.

The robots are about 3 feet high and move on wheels. Some will be in the public view and possibly patrolling with officers, and some will be in enclosed areas and only brought out if they are needed, said Northrop Grumman spokesman George Seffers.

Northrop Grumman builds robots for handling hazardous materials and other risky jobs. The robots typically help fire and police departments with explosive disposal units and hazardous material cleanup.

Northrop Grumman of Los Angeles ranks No. 3 on Washington Technology's 2007 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) = THE REAL LIFE SKYNET!

THEY ARE HERE!

DARPA's robotic hand

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Gallery: Inside the Navy's Armed Killer Robot Labs

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Wired.com
By Dave Bullock
01.31.08 | 3:40 PM

SAN DIEGO -- The Navy's MDARS-E is an armed robot that can track anything that moves. Told that I was the target, the unmanned vehicle trained its guns on me and ordered, "Stay where you are," in an intimidating robot voice. And yes, it was frightening.

Perched atop a strip of cliffs lining a beautiful section of the Pacific Ocean, the Space and Naval Warfare System Command in San Diego develops semiautonomous armed robots for use in combat by the U.S. military. "We're not building Skynet" says Bart Everett, the technical director for robotics at SPAWAR. Though Everett assured me that the use of the robots' on-board weapons is under the strict control of their operators, the lab's bots can navigate and map complicated terrain, work cooperatively with soldiers and identify and confront hostile targets. Sure, they're no Johnny Five, but robots with guns are both creepy and fascinating.

Want To Submit A Wacky Crazy Killer Robot Idea To DARPA ? Click!

The MDARS-E (Mobile Detection Assessment and Response System - Exterior) robot is an armed, unmanned vehicle that can navigate complicated environments autonomously. Decked out with a wide array of high-tech sensors and controlled by a sophisticated software system, the MDARS-E gives the recent Darpa (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) challenge participants a run for their money. More information about this vehicle follows on the next page.

The MDARS-E is intended to drive around urban and rural environments looking for bad guys. As it's cruising, it reports its findings in real time to a guard station. Once the guard identifies an entity as an intruder, the MDARS-E trains its guns on the target and, in an ominous robotic voice, warns him to stay put. If given the command, the robot will first fire a warning shot at the target's feet, and then, if ignored, it will shoot the target.

The vehicle model that SPAWAR demonstrated for us was outfitted with nonlethal weapons. These pneumatic robotic guns (top left and top right) fire munitions that are like paint balls with fins to increase distance and accuracy. Some of these pellets can mark targets or release pepper spray on contact.

The MDARS-E uses a stereoscopic robotic camera system for navigation (bottom left) as well as cameras mounted on the weapons for targeting. A LADAR system (bottom right) uses 24 beams to build an image of the surrounding terrain.

ROBART III is a prototype platform designed in-house at SPAWAR. If it weren't for the chain gun and missiles, he would be pretty cute. Once he's ready for battle he'll almost certainly don an evil-looking suit of armor. ROBART's sensor array consists of a multitude of cameras, SICK LIDAR (like radar, but with lasers), ultrasonic transducers (gold spots), passive IR (infrared radiation) detectors and more. The weapons are planned to work in unison with a special rifle that would automatically target where a soldier points his weapon.

One of ROBART III's weapon systems is this nonlethal pneumatic chain gun. It uses a combination of laser sighting and machine vision to lock in on its target and barrages it with a torrent of 3/16-inch-diameter projectiles. In tests, plastic pellets (like air-soft munitions) and steel darts were used.

This prototype robotic weapon platform is designed to be buried underground for camouflaged deployment. When called to action, the robotic gun pops up and starts shooting. If you're the unlucky soul on the business end of this gun, it's likely curtains for you -- this robot is an extremely accurate shooter. A high-tech night-vision scope (bottom right) permits dead-on targeting even during moonless nights.

The FIRRE may look deadly and efficient, but it has a serious design flaw. Though the tank treads allow it to cross nearly any obstacle, the lack of suspension slowly destroys any type of robotic weapon system that is mounted to it. SPAWAR tried, unsuccessfully, to lessen the rough ride by mounting the robo-gun with shock-absorbing cabling. The FIRRE platform is no longer being considered for battlefield deployment.

The robots in service in Iraq and Afghanistan often see as much dangerous action as their human counterparts. Frequently in the process of disarming IEDs, they end up getting blown apart and saving many lives in the process. These $100,000 robots aren't just tossed in the trash -- many of them are sent back to SPAWAR for repair.

At left, Fire Controlman 2nd Class Mendel Baker tests a communication module for a robot damaged in theater. Normally one working robot can be reassembled using parts salvaged from three broken bots.

..://www.wired.com/images/slideshow/2008/01/spawar/08_wireless_chain.jpg">

Most of the current generation robots in service in Iraq are controlled wirelessly. To extend the range control, SPAWAR researchers developed a self-deploying wireless repeater payload. The robot shoots these spring-loaded repeater modules out their tail ends and they pop open to reveal an elevated antenna (right). The researchers are currently working on a smaller and more rugged version of this system.

This robotic boat navigates autonomously using a combination of nautical maps, radar, LADAR and cameras. The USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) is SPAWAR's latest project designed to fill a variety of nautical robotic needs. The sensor array (top) is an impressive addition to the relatively stock Seadoo boat platform (bottom left). The USV uses a complex software suite, which a group of researchers are fine-tuning (bottom right).

This little robot is outfitted with a LIDAR (light detection and ranging) scanner as well as a set of stereo cameras that allow it to autonomously navigate through confined spaces and make maps of its progress (below). The robot can also be given a command to follow a soldier through a building, which it will happily obey. The black boxes on the map represent doors detected by the LIDAR.

This four-wheeled unmanned vehicle (left) is a mobile launching and refueling station for the aerial robot (gray) resting on top of it. The vehicle can take off, land on the platform and refuel without any human intervention. A complex fire-control system (top right) is required to handle the volatile fuel that powers the aerial robot. The ground vehicle can take a variety of payloads, including a robotic weapon mount (bottom right).

This poster hangs in the SPAWAR offices and gives perspective on the exponential leaps forward in robot autonomy over a relatively short amount of time. View the Evolving Paradigms of Human-Robot Interaction poster (pdf).

Few people realize that military robots and humans have been interacting since World War II when the Germans used remote controlled tanks in battle (while staying within eyesight of the vehicle). These were teleoperated vehicles, just like those used in Iraq and Afghanistan today.

In the SPAWAR laboratory, human-robot interaction has come a long way, especially in the last three years, as robots have gone from mapping an area by themselves (full autonomy), to mapping and then leading a human through an area (semiproximal autonomy), to working fully with a human partner (proximal autonomy). You've come a long way, robo-baby.

Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired

SWORD robots already deployed to kill Iraqis - an experiment before US citizens see them patrolling their streets!

Adam Gettings, self-taught engineer and co-founder of Robotex, with the model MH robot armed with gas-powered AA-12 full automatic shotgun


Robot Killers Can Replace Real Soldiers

After seeing the demonstration below, imagine the day when they deploy these Robotex killers roaming the streets during Martial Law and mow us down with deadly gas-powered AA-12 super shotguns?

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Robotex killer robot CGI Demo

THIS IS JAMES CAMERON'S NIGHTMARE - SKYNET! SO IS DARPA!

AUTOMATION OF COMBAT SYSTEMS WITH KILLER ROBOTICS!

THIS WILL BE THE BIGGEST THREAT TO HUMAN KIND IN A POST NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST!

US Army Future Combat Systems FCS Official Site

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Defense Focus: FCS follies

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Are the cyber-pigeons coming home to roost?

Washington (UPI)
by Martin Sieff
Jan 28, 2007

For the past 2-1/2 years, we have been reporting in these columns about the growing problems generating by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's visionary Future Combat Systems program to make the U.S. armed forces unbeatable in the 21st century.

FCS had the ambitious vision of integrating the firepower of combat forces of the U.S. Army through a wireless network in real time. It offered the prospect of field commanders video conferencing with front-line officers in tanks on the battlefield. It offered the vision of minimizing combat casualties by sending in large numbers of robots to defuse mines and open ways through battlefields.

The program was one of the most costly in the history of the U.S. Army. The Washington Post Friday said its estimated cost was $200 billion. As we have previously reported in these columns, some estimates from the Congressional Budget Office and the Government Accountability Office have already gone 50 percent higher than that. And even those estimates assumed that the basic concepts of the program were sound and that it would work as projected.

In fact, as the Post reported Friday, the number of lines of software code required by the project has more than doubled in only the past five years. The Army originally reckoned it needed 33.7 million lines of code. Now it reckons it needs 63.8 million. The paper also cited Dennis Muilenberg, Boeing's project manager on the FCS, as maintaining that the original estimate was 55 million lines of software, not 33 million.

No one doubts that interconnectivity and rapid response is vital on the battle field. No one doubts the U.S. armed forces have enjoyed a decisive global superiority in applying these key technologies over the past quarter century. And no one with any sense doubts that it should be a top priority goal to seek to retain that advantage through the coming decades.

But as we have warned in these columns before, the FCS from the very beginning appeared doomed to failure: It sought to replace the flexibility easily available in modern off-the-shelf communications technology with enormously ambitious and rigid integrated goals that swallowed up limitless resources.

Yet, as we reported 2-1/2 years ago, three-star Army generals were cautiously warning back in August 2005 that the very concept of the FCS leaves it dangerously vulnerable to cyber-attack -- a form of asymmetrical warfare that China in particular has given top priority to, and that is also being developed energetically by Russia and India.

These concerns have since become more widespread. The Post report cited a warning from the Defense Science Board, which advises the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as saying last year, "Malicious code is a key concern of the FCS program (and it) lacks confidence in current tools for detecting malicious code."

In other words, the key strategic conception for continuing U.S. battlefield superiority for at least 20 years to come depends on an integrated software system that is still being developed, and that is certain to be vulnerable to hostile cyber-attacks even when it is finally completed.

But that is only the first of the strategic and conceptual problems that the FCS mega-project faces. There are even more fundamental ones.

Donald Rumsfeld's dream: FCS Future Combat System



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