Will Submarine Drones Cause World War III?

Patrick Tucker, Defense One: Will Subdrones Cause World War III?

Smart, well-armed and built to operate on their own, underwater drones are becoming a dangerous wildcard.

Do a Google image search for “armed drone” and you’ll see General Atomics Reapers outfitted with Hellfire missiles, perhaps soaring over the sandy plains of Iraq, Syria, or somewhere in Africa. In the future, the phrase may come to mean something very different. The next frontier for drone technology—and particularly autonomy—is on and under the seas.

Already, the U.S. and other militaries are doing research into ways armed robots could do much of the work that is today performed by manned warships and submarines, especially in difficult environments like the Arctic. But a new white paper from the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, released last month, warns that ever-smarter naval robots could make for very choppy waters in places where the United States, Russia, and other nations have a growing presence and competing interests.

WNU Editor: Now the fear-warmongering is really growing .... Russian drone submarine would threaten U.S. coast; nuclear vessel in development (Washington Times). The Russian response is predictable .... US Fears Russia Building Drone Sub That Can Blow Up American Coastal Cities (Sputnik).

Update: This is interesting .... Boeing Patents Drone That Transforms Into a Submarine (PSFK).