CNAS Releases New Report "Robotics on the Battlefield Part II: The Coming Swarm"

Washington, October 15 – Center for a New American Security (CNAS) Fellow and 20YY Warfare Initiative Director Paul Scharre has written a new report, Robotics on the Battlefield Part II: The Coming Swarm. The report examines the role that “swarms” of robots will play in the future of warfare, and how the United States can harness unmanned and autonomous systems to sustain its military advantage.
 
The full report is available to download here: http://www.cnas.org/the-coming-swarm.
 
The report examines the role of swarming robotic systems on the battlefield through a series of vignettes, including air, ground, and maritime systems. The report includes actionable recommendations for the Department of Defense to capitalize on the value of unmanned and autonomous systems. These include: 

• Fielding of autonomous swarming defensive boats to protect U.S. ships from fast attack craft
• Funding of multi-year experiments in cooperative multi-vehicle control and swarming
• Investigation of low-cost swarming uninhabited air vehicles
• Conducting experiments on amphibious swarming robots for reconnaissance operations and beach mine clearing

Paul Scharre is available for interviews on this report. To arrange an interview, please contact Neal Urwitz at nurwitz@cnas.org or call 202-457-9409.