After a loud public outcry, Seattle’s police force abandoned its plans to deploy surveillance drones.  Virginia’s state government has imposed a two-year moratorium on the use of drones by police in the state.  In addition, 13 states are currently considering similar anti-drone legislation.  Meanwhile, online discussion groups have become rather aggressive, posting ways to interfere with the radio frequencies of drones circling overhead and even suggesting methods for shooting drones out of the sky. (New Scientist)

The question arises:  Will this sensitivity to being watched spread to Internet commercial monitoring?  So far, the answer is “not so much,” but it bears watching.

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Focus on Asia-Pacific as a long-term objective

• A congressional study published in August suggests that the U.S. considers the modernization of China’s navy an aggressive act.
• China has developed ballistic anti-ship missiles that are the first capable of striking aircraft carriers.
• China has launched three nuclear subs of its own design that are capable of firing nuclear-armed intercontinental missiles.
• The number of Chinese military-related patents has increased by an average of 35 percent per year during the last decade.
• U.S.  Marine Corps is moving troops to Asia/Pacific and will end up with 22,000 Marines west of the International Date Line
• The U.S. 7^th Fleet, the Navy’s largest and strongest force with more than 60 warships and around 40,000 personnel, is stationed in Japan and Guam.

Greater focus on Special Operations

• U.S. Special Operations forces are deployed in 75 countries, compared with about 60 at the beginning of last year.
• President Obama asked for a 5.7 percent increase in the Special Operations budget for fiscal 2011 (total $6.3 bil) plus an additional $3.5 billion in 2010 contingency funding.

Advanced drones

• The Air Force Chief of Staff General claims they will pursue “manned-unmanned” pairings, including using a manned Apache helicopter to control UAV or UAVs payloads.

Cyber War

• The U.S. military recently participated with other countries in the Cyber Endeavor- full on cyber warfare drill focused on protecting information in a collaborative environment.
• The Department of Defense is building cyber ranges (controlled battlefield environments) to evaluate cyber defense tools.

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New robots developed in New Zealand have neural networks onboard that can test mine tunnels and, like mine inspectors, can detect flaws and risks.  Normal guidance systems for autonomous vehicles depend on GPS, which is not available underground, and so mine robots use ultrasonic and RF signals to identify where they are.  Sandvik’s robots use constant contact with operators above ground via Wi-Fi signals. Rio Tinto is working on an autonomous rig drill that can bore holes and even assess various rock strata on its own.  Drone-based mining is another example of digital technology completely restructuring an industry.

Taking risky human tasks and getting machines to do them is good for curtailing human injuries, but that switch also reduces the number of jobs that humans can do.  Autonomous trucks are displacing decent-paying jobs, a money-saving efficiency for the company but a troubling reality for the unemployed and the consumer economy that depends on their having salaries to spend in markets and stores.  As machines steadily eat away at the human job market, what industry is going to provide new jobs, or are we headed toward steadily higher unemployment?

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