As I am reading about the history of warfare, I am seeing how more and more our military is evolving to a partnership between manned and unmanned units on a battlefield. I would think that in three hundred years that this relationship would be even more tighter than it is. However, I don't see any evidence of this in modern sci-fi films, especially Star Trek.
Is there a way that writers can incorporate what is happening in the modern world, project how this development might appear in the future, and make an interesting and enjoyable film using what they know and what they imagine?
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Well, in Star Trek, remember, humans are evolved and uber-peace loving and don't *wage* war. They only get involved as a matter of self-defense. Unmanned warfare technology wouldn't be something Starfleet would be interested in developing...
Though they do make use of sensor drones and probes.
The Romulans made use of unmanned ships in Enterprise. The Klingons would probably consider it dishonorable.
In SG-1, there was a civilization that made use of unmanned fighters.
Posted by FawnDoo (Member # 1421) on :
Remember, Starfleet did try it's hand at automating a ship in "The Ultimate Computer" so that it could operate without a crew, and the results weren't pretty. Could be Starfleet decided not to try it again after that.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Andromeda made extensive use of drones and remote-piloted fighters. Funny that the show ended up with a much richer background than actual plot and characterization...
However, I'm not convinced that unmanned vehicles in real-life use will prove viable over the long run. The USA can make use of them right now because we have a big technological lead over all our enemies that we're fighting. But I'd bet that there's a huge potential for jamming the signal, or worse, actual hijacking of the UAV to have it turn against its owners. That's another part of the reason why Star Trek didn't do it too often.
Posted by The Ginger Beacon (Member # 1585) on :
Another aspect might be ressistance to the idea of creating an artificial intelligence designed to fight and be destroyed in battle on ethical grounds, allthough in Star Trek the general trend tended towards not seeing computers as sentient.
Also in Star Trek there was a general rule that people were somehow better than robots or computers. Special mention to Kirk and Mr Maddox on this one.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
Personally the more I see UAV and other unmanned weapons technology I think of Judgment Day. Or as the lines movies like Stealth ("War's terrible. It's meant to be terrible, and if it stops being terrible, what's going to stop us?") or Iron Man ("The future of air combat. Is it manned or unmanned? I'll tell you in my experience, no unmanned aerial vehicle will ever trump a pilot's instinct.")