“They’re willing to say, ‘I’m willing to sacrifice the lives of American servicemen and women, I’m willing to take more civilian casualties … on the off chance that sometime in the future this weapon will exist.”

The experimental turret will use the technology — and the safeguards — from the Army’s ATLAS project, originally misrepresented in the media as building “killer robots.”

The Pentagon insists it doesn’t want them. But could a global ban really rein in Russia or China?

Warships sink. Bases burn. F-35s die on the runway. Can $24 billion a year — 3.3 % of the Pentagon budget — fix the problem?

Why did an obscure Army program inspire headlines about “killer robots”?

The move could save more than $30 billion over 25 years to invest in high-tech weapons — but Congress is sure to explode in outrage.

“The SOF guys are less risk averse than conventional ground forces, so they’re more apt to push the limit,” said Bob Work, father of the AI-driven Third Offset Strategy. “Their commanders also have embraced AI and autonomous ops…. so I think all the conditions are set for SOF to lead the way in the more direct combat applications of AI and autonomy.”

“I think Russia and China are in a better position than we are at the moment on Artificial Intelligence,” Sen. Sen. James Inhofe said. I asked if he would press hard for more money. Answer: “To me, there are other things that need to be done first.”

“We have not achieved $2.3 billion in budget growth,” Pentagon EW acquisitions director Bill Conley told me. “We are continuing to add investment (and) we are addressing the most pressing gaps.”

Loaded with jet fuel, the drones will vastly extend the ranges of carrier-based aircraft operating in the expanses of the western Pacific. That lets the Navy strike deeper into China’s layered defenses while keeping the big decks out of range of most of China’s anti-ship missiles.