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Terminator kill-bots to be run by system called 'Skynet'

How many hints do we need? Flee while you can
By Lewis Page

Following the announcement of the new Flying-HK-style "Reaper" death machines for the British forces, the prophetic nature of the Terminator movies has been further confirmed.

Not only will the UK MoD deploy airborne cyber-gunships remarkably similar to those in the films, the flying robot assassins will be controlled by an IT project named "Skynet".

This latest case of life imitating art (well, kind of art) was revealed this morning, with the news that the first of the Skynet 5 satellites has gone operational and is now successfully carrying data to and from British forces fighting in Southwest Asia.

"This important milestone is very good news for the armed forces," said Lord Drayson, the Minister for Defence Procurement. "Skynet 5 will supply about 2.5 times the capacity of the old system and generate a very significant improvement for our global communications systems - allowing us to pass more data faster. It is an excellent example of a successful Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deal."

This PFI was the largest ever signed by the UK MoD, around £3.6bn in total. The Skynet 5 satellites are run by Paradigm Secure Communications and were built by EADS-Astrium. Skynet 5A was launched into space aboard an Ariane 5-ECA rocket from French Guiana in March, sharing the ride with an Indian TV platform. Skynet 5B and 5C will follow later this year and next.

It seems pretty clear that the Reaper flying kill machines will be run using the Skynet satellites, not any other comms channels.

"Take for example the capability of unmanned air vehicles. These generate a lot of imagery and that has to be passed over a secure communications link," according to Bill Sweetman, technology and aerospace editor for defence analysts Jane's.

"The practice is to offload mundane traffic on to commercial satellites and then to use a complementary, secure proprietary system for the traffic that has to be protected."

And it may not just be the Reapers that are controlled by Skynet. There's no word yet of any plans to cloak Asimo robots in living flesh cloned from large Austrian bodybuilders, but it can only be a matter of time.

"Ground control segments for the new system have been upgraded," reported the Beeb today. "Ships, planes and land vehicles are being equipped to make the best use of the upgraded Skynet."

Or for Skynet to make use of them.

Terminator kill-bots to be run by system called 'Skynet' (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/11/skynet_takes_control/)

More links on this.......


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6645987.stm

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/10/the_flying_hk_are_coming_aiee/

http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/2007/05/59m-for-4-more-mq9-reaper-uavs/index.php

http://www.janes.com/defence/news/jdw/jdw070504_1_n.shtml

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/gbu-38.htm

Not even underground is safe..............
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Israelis produce miniature Terminator

Pint sized robo-assassin talks the talk, can't walk the walk
By Lewis Page

Published Thursday 8th March 2007 19:32 GMT

Israeli killer-robot maker Elbit Systems today unveiled the "Viper," a small ground-crawling combat machine "roughly the size of a small television".

The tiny war-bot is said to capable of engaging enemies with bursts of laser-sighted automatic fire, or even grenades.

In what can only be a remarkable, chilling coincidence the dwarvish cyber-assassin reportedly packs an Uzi nine-millimetre – one of the favourite weapons of the original, supposedly fictional Terminator.

But the diminutive droid may not be ready to step into the CyberDyne 101's leather pants quite yet. It is actually intended mainly for bomb-disposal type missions, using a disruptor rather than a submachine gun. The idea is that it might be sent in ahead of Israeli foot-soldiers to recce dangerous or booby-trapped areas or buildings. It would mostly operate undisguised under remote control rather than undercover, cloaked in a sheath of living flesh. (Presumably that of a medium-sized dog in this case, rather than that of a vast Austrian.)

And indeed a measly 9mm Uzi is scarcely going to impress the other killer droids. In former times the UK's "Wheelbarrow" bomb-disposal bot would often pack a Browning 12-bore semi-automatic, somewhat outgunning the new kid on the block. And anything along these lines pales into insignificance alongside today's Flying-HK lookalike, the General Atomics MQ-9 "Reaper" with its 14 Hellfire missiles.

One also notes that the Viper isn't yet really independent of human support. It has to be carried into battle on a soldier's back. Whether the bearer should be seen as the directing intelligence or merely the machine's fleshy slave is for history to judge.

Israelis produce miniature Terminator (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/08/israeli_mini_terminator/)