India announces plans to develop robot army

In an announcement that you can probably expect to be repeated by rival Pakistan in the next few days, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has claimed that his South Asian nation will be the latest country to pursue technologies for developing a robotic army. Singh's remarks came during the inauguration of a new building for the Defence Research and Development Organization, and were part of a larger speech outlining the country's future plans for military research, where he also mentioned interest in developing next-gen propulsion, camouflage, and precision guided munitions systems. Unlike South Korea's planned army of killbots (pictured), the Indian program is pretty light on specifics so far, although we do know that the impetus for the project comes from the realization that "trans-national actors and unconventional forces" pose a growing threat when compared to the risk of a traditional inter-state conflict.

[Via Robot Gossip]

[Steve from Boston @ May 18th 2006 9:09AM]

Correction: India is considered to be part of South Asia, not Southeast Asia.

The countries of Southeast Asia are Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Phillipines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The countries of South Asia are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Otherwise, interesting news.

[jfox @ May 18th 2006 9:20AM]

Shouldnt they just use indians for the indian army? With half the country in poverty, just provide some basic lodging, food, and cloths, and you'll have an army that will fight for anything.

[RRosenberg @ Aug 8th 2007 1:47AM]

Great observation....India would help the ecosystem by getting into a good solid war with Pakistan and China.....say diet about 500 M or more the better of their countrymen....what a load off of the world's infrastructure.....

[Rohit Kapur @ May 18th 2006 9:33AM]

Umm, its comments like the one posted by #2 that make me realize that people really can be just plain stupid. I'm an Indian and live in India.
Alright, you say that they should just provide fooding and shelter to all homeless people and they'll fight wars. Why doesn't America do that with what little homeless people it has? Think. Also, if they COULD just provide all that for people, shouldn't they just do that otherwise and not put the condition of enrolling in the army? Wouldn't it be better if those people got jobs and helped the country progress further instead of going out there and killing people?

Alright. Enough ranting. On this whole issue, I'd rather like to see the government concentrate more on the people in the country, rather than developing technological weapons. I'd like to first see them clean up the streets a bit more. True, now the country's a lot cleaner than before but I'd like to see them enforce laws a little more properly so as to stop people from treating streets as garbage cans.


Finally, none of this is gonna happen any time soon. There's too much corruption in this country currently. If anybody reads news on India, you'll see how pathetic the state is currently with the whole "Reservation for OBCs in colleges" issue. Today, 43 students who are on hunger strike to protest the issue fainted. The police are beating people who are just peacefully protesting. And the ministers are standing by the police calling their actions "commendable".

Fuck politics. They can take their robotic army and shove it. Rather, shove it up Bush's ass. I hate him too.

[Mohit @ May 18th 2006 9:43AM]

Rohit I couldn't agree more.
Although I live in the US right now (yeah George Bush's actions actually affect me directly =) I only moved from India 3 years ago. Corruption and population are just dragging down India, although reform is beginning to spread at a surprisingly fast pace. Still, with projects like nuclear treaties and a robotic army, it's clear that the Indian government has its priorities all wrong. Some logic and a hard line need to be established in the Indian government before any significant reform can be expected countrywide.

[Tnyc @ May 18th 2006 9:46AM]

..and the WHOLE entire endeavor will be paid for by Dell as a good gesture toward their incompetant Indian customer support CSRs... LOL!!!

[abhas1 @ May 18th 2006 9:54AM]

Go India!

[trev @ May 18th 2006 10:02AM]

2# People in India may be poor, but they are not stupid.

3# I agree with alot of what you said - they should really be spending the money on things which will iprove the country - schools, sanitation and healthcare. While Im not a big fan of President Bush myself, your dislike for him has nothing to do with the topic.

[Jonathan @ May 18th 2006 10:05AM]

Well, the first time i read it i thought it was pure sarcasm, then i realised it was science fiction....

Oh puhleese! When is that gonna happen?

[Shreik @ May 18th 2006 10:19AM]

"Today, 43 students who are on hunger strike to protest the issue fainted."

Honestly, I could care less. Those strikes are nothing more than a bunch of whiners who realize that the era of the higher castes ruling India is over. The lower castes deserve those seats and more if you ask me. After a few thousand years of oppression by the "higher" castes, I think that providing a spot in college should only be the beginning. Now, the "higher" castes will actually have to compete and work hard rather than being assured of a place in college. BOOHOO, you actually have to study now.

P.S. apologies to the non-Indians out there who have no clue what I'm talking about.

[Dhruv @ May 18th 2006 10:30AM]

i agree with #3rohit coz even i am an indian .

1st of all indians may b poor but they r no way that stupid.

2nd furget bout this 'robot army' for the next 10 yrs oz that is easily gonna b the time it will take india 2 come ouit with somethin by that time this stuff will be commonplace.

3rd with the large scale corruption among politicians this project just might never take off.

4th if any one in the govt. is readin (highly improbable coz most of them r illiterate) just plz do somethin bout the reservation instead . or just use that army 2 feed the poor.
thats my 2 cent

[Brian B @ May 18th 2006 10:34AM]

#3 - A not so well known FACT is that a huge percentage of homeless people in the US suffer from mental instability (notably schizophrenia). Before people start yelling back, I am not claiming that everyone who is or has been homeless is a lunatic. Just that a lot of them are. There is also a substance abuse issue facing many of the homeless. I am not trying to stereotype. This is true. Any medical professional out there who would like to look it up in a medical Behavioral sciences or Psychiatry textbook will agree. On the other hand, I doubt these same conditions apply to the Indian homeless, or at least not in the same percentages. In other words, its like comparing apples and oranges.

That said, I agree COMPLETELY with the rest of your statement (including the knocking of Bush - anyone else enjoy Colbert's laughing at him a few weeks back??). India has its priorities out of sync and really could benefit from appropriating its resources towards good, not evil (why do I sound like a superhero??).

[Bob M. @ May 18th 2006 10:49AM]

India is a sovereign country, it has all the right not to feed their poor, but develop a robotic army instead.

[dbdtron @ May 18th 2006 11:05AM]

Robot Gandhi rolls over in his metallic recharging unit.

[Red_Munk!! @ May 18th 2006 11:21AM]

# 10 = Hill-airity.

Back on topic,

Im a Paki. Read this 2-3 days ago. Good on India... but this wont be happening till @least a decade.
It will cost em "x" Billion $'s which, as everyone else has pointed out, could go to better use.

How will Pak respond?

They'll just wait for Ind/Korea to develop these things. Buy/steal a few, Give em to our Chinese brothers & end up purchasing them for 1/100000th of what it would cost to build these things from scratch :P. Horrah for reverse engineering!!

Oh & Bush is an idiot. Universal Fact! :D

[Yuvraj Chohan @ May 18th 2006 11:21AM]

Invest in the people of India, not robots what is that going to serve. Why protect the people with an army when you can;t protect them from disease and famine. A big waste of money it hurts me to see this!

Yuvraj Sinhji Chohan

[Rohit Kapur @ May 18th 2006 11:28AM]

Peace to my Paki brother, #11. Man, let's hope these fools "running" (more like robbing) our two countries will see someday that there really is no hate between us, other than that which they love to invoke for their own good. I say, Pakis and Indians hand in hand, let's throw these bastards off of our lands.

Forgive the cheesiness. ;-)

[mike @ May 18th 2006 11:37AM]

There needs to be an international convention againt robotic weaponry, much like the ones against landmines and the weaponization of space.

There are serious problems of culpability with non-human weaponry which need to be addressed.

[trev @ May 18th 2006 11:40AM]

9#

Just because they have the right not to feed poor people doesnt mean it is right.

[Luis Antonio @ May 18th 2006 12:08PM]

#11:
Yeah, you guys would get them reverse engineered and two or three days later you could get those robots for a small premium at some market in Mexico City. Hooray for reverse engineering indeed.

[matthew raleigh @ May 18th 2006 12:42PM]

#9:
It's amazing how the word "right", as in the right to do something, and "right" as in "the right thing to do, so rarely mean the same thing.

[Alexandre Ludolf @ May 18th 2006 1:24PM]

one of them has a true star wars fell, cool.

[Sreedhar @ May 18th 2006 2:02PM]

Hmm, robots, reservations, reverse engineering, too many terms in a single page.

Robots, India has right to do whatever it wants with whatever resources it has.
Reservations, Those whiners need to stop the drama. Adapt or perish. Your so called merit didn't achieve any great things in the past 60 yrs.
Disclaimer: I belong to non quota sections.
India is a poor country. That doesn't mean we need to be taught on how to spend our resources. We know that space travel, computers, weapons are all part of so called "progress". Please don't patronize us.
To the Pakistani who talked about reverse engineering. Who's going to be place under house arrest this time? :)

[oytnu @ May 18th 2006 2:25PM]

#1-#17 chill-lax.
#4 AMEN!
as for the original topic! let people do the research, and then buy it off them or reverse engineer. if bought ppl make money, isn't that why they are doing it all in the first place? i am certain that noone cares about the competition or the other nation, they just tryin to make the next thing to be "bought out"

[Allen the alien @ May 18th 2006 2:57PM]

Anything that can lower the number of humans infesting this planet is okay by me.

Those last three little robots look great!

[slinger @ May 18th 2006 3:37PM]

#3 and #8: Maybe the lazy ass students just dont want to study for their exams and instead waste time protesting...pathetic.

[Sumedh @ May 18th 2006 3:42PM]

#2, #6, #9 To the serious conv going on...In America, do you know how much money is spent on defense? Are you saying that America is in the best position it ever can be in terms of domestic issues? Lets think of work and education. American Indians (mostly first-generations) are the richest minority in America. On top of that, many technical jobs are being sent to India. India's college system is good enough to create these intelligent minds. Yes there are illiterate people in India and it happens to be 40%. This number is going down as the middle class is growing and more people are leaving villages to come to the cities. The majority of this 40% live simple lives where they get by on not having to read and write. Its a mix of culture and tradition. True, many do not have the opportunity to get an education but that is changing. As far as corrupt colleges, for each one that is corrupt there are at least 2 that are not. Getting a college education versus none at all is completely different. In the US, certain minorities often get special preference or being a family member of an alumni, donating money to the school, socioeconomic factors in getting good grades & SAT scores in HS.

At any rate, India must defend herself by being just as technologically sound like the superpowers around like China, Pakistan, etc. If India does not have the upper hand, she will get taken advantage of by a foreign power (i.e. India for hundred of years until 1947). Having a robot army or any superior military force would let citizens be able to live their lives as they should and not worry about their security. National security is a prerequisite to international recognition and eminent for a country with much to offer. Also 10 years from now when India's illiteracy is hopefully 10% or less, India will already have the educational AND military infrastructure in place to being the dominant power they are. Think long term!

[Vic @ May 18th 2006 3:46PM]

India wouldn't be the first country to put money into it's military at the expense of socially responsibly governing.

A few days ago I was reading about EMP (electromagnetic pulse) weapons. It occurs to me now that a good EMP could wipe out thousands of robotic soldiers a pop.

Seriously, I don't think there will ever be a viable alternative to a human soldier.

V

[Mr. Roboto @ May 18th 2006 3:57PM]

For the people bashing Bush, he at least has the guts to do what the rest of the world should have done themselves. Many other leaders, including some American leaders, are either too weak or afraid to do what should be done.

If the world doesn't grow a pair and properly deal with Iran, then everyone will pay for it in the future. That is unless the robot armies come to our aid! I for one welcome our robot overlords. j/k :)

[Jon @ May 18th 2006 3:58PM]

I for one will welcome our new robotic overlords with open arms ;)

[Rohit Kapur @ May 18th 2006 4:19PM]

Hey #21, get your facts straight before you speak. The government plans of hiking up the number of reserved seats for backward class students to 50%. This would mean that only 50% of the seats would be available for general students. This country is grossly overpopulated. Taking more and more seats away from general students will not help it progress.

Don't fucking say anything against anybody until you know what you're talking about. Moron.

[Dilip @ May 18th 2006 4:29PM]

#8 One thing that i can say is that you have no clue as to whats happening in india nor have any clue about the reservation politics that is driving india to the grave. Its not because Higher Caste students can't study that they are protesting. Its because higher caste students are not given the seats they deserve for thier marks. Lower class students get these seats eventhough they had lower scores in entrance exams. Now lets talk about who exactly the Higher Caste or Class is.

Secondly Higher Caste Students are smart, they can find seats in univ, colleges abroad. In the end you will have dumb ass Low Caste pass outs who made it just because of reservation ruling the country and making it worse by the day as it is happening already.

And for goodness sake, if you know nothing about india please dont comment. Its quite insulting to listen to people like you whine.

[slinger @ May 18th 2006 4:49PM]

#24, you need to chill out man. That post I made wasn't towards you, your desi friends, family, relatives, or India. It was a statement that (IMO) applies to every student body (go to school to study, not protest, "do your job sailor!")

As far as I care, OBC or lower-caste or higher-caste: its not my fight, it doesn't affect me :D

Also, according to #25, the system seems like the American Affirmative Action for minorities.

Fact #1, in general: Protestors everywhere are a drain on every single resource. Get an education, get a job, get a life and you won't be bitching about it on the streets. Period.

Fact #2, in general: When you write something, use punctuation, capitalization, and general grammer rules. Because it's really hard to follow what some of you are saying without reading it 3-4 times.

[Moto Oda @ May 18th 2006 5:17PM]

Caste System? LOL How very quaint. Kawaii!!!

[GR @ May 18th 2006 6:48PM]

I think we should have job reservations in all the fields. I completely support the PM and all the politicians for promoting this. Let's start the reservation with our cricket team. We should have 10 percent reservation for Muslims. 30 percent for OBC, SC/ST like that. Cricket rules should be modified accordingly. The boundary circle should be reduced for an SC/ST player. The four hit by an OBC player should be considered as a six and a six hit by a OBC player should be counted as 8 runs. An OBC player scoring 60 runs should be declared as a century.

We should influence ICC and make rules so that the pace bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar should not bowl fast balls to our OBC player. Bowlers should bowl maximum speed of 80 kilometer per hour to an OBC player. Any delivery above this speed should be made illegal.

Also we should have reservation in Olympics. In the 100 meters race, an OBC player should be given a gold medal if he runs 80 meters.

There can be reservation in Government jobs also. Let's recruit SC/ST and OBC pilots for aircrafts which are carrying the ministers and politicians ( that can really help the country...)

Ensure that only SC/ST and OBC doctors do the operations for the ministers and other politicians. (Another way of saving the country...)

Let's be creative and think of ways and means to guide INDIA forward...
Let's show the world that INDIA is a GREAT country. Let's be proud of being an INDIAN..

[JRM @ May 18th 2006 6:50PM]

I hear that John Connor is going to run this robot Army...

[VA @ May 18th 2006 9:54PM]

BTW, this is what the prime minister of india actually said in the speech. It is available in its entirety here http://pmindia.nic.in/lspeech.asp?id=332.

"DRDO aims to create a new range of products and technologies. The fact that these include cutting-edge technologies in propulsion systems, camouflage and stealth technologies, sensors and micro-electromechanical systems, as well as precision-guided munitions, robotics and unmanned vehicle technologies illustrates your growing confidence in these vital fields. Such confidence is essential to meet the challenges posed both by the pace of evolution of military and dual use technologies and the rapidity with which transnational actors and unconventional forces are now emerging and mutating as threats to the international order."

He really does not talk about creating robot army.

[varma @ Dec 4th 2007 3:59AM]

India develops robot army by intercourse just as they do with the 1 billion population

[Aaron @ May 19th 2006 3:06AM]

Wait, wait... INDIA's robot army? That's awesome! Ha, take that, post-apocalyptic anime!

[Claudiu Spulber @ May 19th 2006 4:53AM]

A "robot army", this is just out of the context. Maybe they'll create simple ones that can be loaded with explosives and guided to specific locations.

Makes you think however about the costs needed for such an operation. Why don't they use that to improve the quality of life in India...yes I hear you, it's all about the corruption and never-ending wars.

[AAA @ May 19th 2006 2:06PM]

#28, #29
Govt and Census ststistics fot the past 60 years show that lower castes have been highly under-represented in India in ALL spheres of life.

Please count how many Presidents and Prime ministers were Brahmins, a very small minority in India. 5% of total population.

Scheduled castes and Tribes number 25%, and with Backward castes and Other backward castes, the total number is >50%.

A >50% population wanting 50% reservation is unreasonable?

While their conditions have definitely improved since 1950, the vast majority remains very poor. One of the reasons for that is the discrimination shown even by eduacated rich Indians like Dilip, who is not being called a racist, although he makes a comment precisely simarly to disparaging Black people in the US.

Of course the Lower caste student will be 'dumb' and have less scores ! Thats because his father probably makes 15$ (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/06/south_asia_living_by_india0s_uranium_mine/html/3.stm)a month and cannot not possibly afford to spend the 100$ a month to send him to the Elite local English school then enroll him for $500 a year classess where they teach you nothing but how to cram your brain with formulas without understanding then so you can join an Elite engineering/medical school. (No Biology/History/Anthropology/Philosophy/Fishery for the elites, no sir!)

Can Dilip look at me with a straight face and tell me that Indian exams are not about cramming and mindless practice and are actually about gaining knowledge?

Its true many Indians end up in US univs like me, and most of them are Upper castes and brahmins, however if you think they are all smart you are sadly mistaken. Their (and mine) only smartness lies in the fact that we saw how EASY it was to be accepted in a top school in the US and study for free, because Americans don't want to take the effort. I recently had to explain a MS student upper class girl what the RETURN key was.(She has higher GPA than me).Another person in my class who has been working here for many years complained when the Prof gave her 0 marks for an coding assignment, but full marks to me "even though both our programs have two loops."

While doctors are protesting about increased reservation, they are conveniently ignoring another type of reservation: The erservation of money. It has always been legal to BUY a seat in almost any University, outside of reservation ! And who has had the money for 5000 years ? NOT the untouchables, who can be found

[Jeffrey @ May 19th 2006 6:35PM]

Robotic bees:
The technology is close to create small robotic insects. Imagine how deadly a bee with deadly venom and mechanical appendages would be that also contains face-recognition software and the ability to operate autonomously or in a group.

Deadly, small, cost-efficient army's are the sign of things to come and nothing is going to stop it. It's NOT science fiction any more. Nanotechnology is changing everything. Bio-terrorism is another increasing danger brought about by the science of small things.

9/11 was a few guys with a small support network and a some knives; look how much damage that did. How much damage could a million "Killer Beez" do?

[Jwalant Natvarlal Soneji @ May 20th 2006 3:52AM]

Hey u did say to mohit that Indian population is a problem. Ita actually a big strength and now we are using it well, so it has rocked the whole world. well India is the only country which can do these much technical exellence, even all the countruies have their best scientists who are actully indians.

[prof farnsworth @ May 20th 2006 6:09AM]

Bite my shiny metal caste

[jay @ May 21st 2006 5:33PM]

Well they said the same thing about the antarcic exploration teams that India invested in as well as in satellite technology- we know whare the latter stands in the world with regard to breaking the monopoly on high res images from space. I dont think any such high tech ventre is a wasted effort. it will lead to rich dividends for India. As for reservations etc.. just step back and observe. It really is not going to impact the quality of output from India. It will make a few people unhapy but then it will make afew more happy.. se la vie etc etc.
I couldn't help chuckling about that statement re: pakistan- now there is a bunch of goons who think they are "the same as" India. What a joke.

[Dhiram Shah @ May 22nd 2006 1:35AM]

Glad to see so many Indians on Engadget :-)

[gatait @ May 24th 2006 7:56AM]

The main problem of india..it's politican..india can devolop if they concentrate on reducing the population and focus on techinal devolopment. but the pliticans are not doing that..they are just deviding the society for their own shake and ruling them. actually it is not a real democracy as we can't choose our president or Prime Minister ..it is by selection not the election. They are not providing anything to backwards class just reserving or blocking the merits.As a result some people taking advantages and the rest all backwards people remain in dark ..with out light of education or getting food or money.It is not the matter of population of backward classes. Matter is that all the reservation facilities goes to only a certain percentage of people as a result they are becoming richer but the rest of the class are remain in the same poverty level. Can any one suggest me one poor people who need basic demand to live like minimum food,clothes,primary education ..will he be advantaged by this higher education reservation if he does not get the basic things, no this is not the fact. If it is then during the last 50 years SC,ST community will not be under the poverty level.Govt can help them by education, money, rations and all the social facilities as it will take lots of money. They are just doing reservation and showing “look what a great jobs I have done. Please give me vote”
They are not helping the poor people ..no steps has been takes as if they literate they will not give vote to them as they will have their own judgment then. This kind of vision will lead to India more backward level and this is the fact. In no justice it is said that reserve for the worst killing the best it does not matter in which community he belongs. Always their should be survival of the fittest .And this is the rule of the world.
India can do many thing on robotics, software as india has the merits has the devotation, has the human resources nad the power ,but they have to realize what they are doing how they are doing need a proper vision with out politics intension or communualism.

[gantait @ May 24th 2006 7:58AM]

The main problem of india..it's politican..india can devolop if they concentrate on reducing the population and focus on techinal devolopment. but the pliticans are not doing that..they are just deviding the society for their own shake and ruling them. actually it is not a real democracy as we can't choose our president or Prime Minister ..it is by selection not the election. They are not providing anything to backwards class just reserving or blocking the merits.As a result some people taking advantages and the rest all backwards people remain in dark ..with out light of education or getting food or money.It is not the matter of population of backward classes. Matter is that all the reservation facilities goes to only a certain percentage of people as a result they are becoming richer but the rest of the class are remain in the same poverty level. Can any one suggest me one poor people who need basic demand to live like minimum food,clothes,primary education ..will he be advantaged by this higher education reservation if he does not get the basic things, no this is not the fact. If it is then during the last 50 years SC,ST community will not be under the poverty level.Govt can help them by education, money, rations and all the social facilities as it will take lots of money. They are just doing reservation and showing “look what a great jobs I have done. Please give me vote”
They are not helping the poor people ..no steps has been takes as if they literate they will not give vote to them as they will have their own judgment then. This kind of vision will lead to India more backward level and this is the fact. In no justice it is said that reserve for the worst killing the best it does not matter in which community he belongs. Always their should be survival of the fittest .And this is the rule of the world.
India can do many thing on robotics, software as india has the merits has the devotation, has the human resources nad the power ,but they have to realize what they are doing how they are doing need a proper vision with out politics intension or communualism. .
by debdutta

[Mandar Khaire @ May 25th 2006 11:52AM]

NO way India can create a robot army. I will just stay on papers and papers will be filed and those files will just stack up like others. And with this current reservation issue, they r going to reserve seats in scientific research tooo. So just imagine when these robots will be ready with a bunch of OBC morons working on it. and even if they get ready u know what quality it would be. In this case I think i would have been a pakistani than an indian.
proud to be indian......haahh..

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