Robocraft

Technology is changing at an exponential rate. The fields of genetics, robotics, information, and nano technology (GRIN) are intermingling and feeding on each other to enable a not-too-distant future that will look radically different than today. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will naturally incorporate these technologies and crystallize many of the issues associated with the GRIN revolution. Just how these new capabilities are incorporated into UAVs is not simply a question of technological know-how. Sociopolitical forces and natural barriers will also mold their development. Technological trajectories suggest that a future all-UAV force would have the ability to be fully autonomous and more capable than one containing manned aircraft. Sociopolitical factors within the Air Force may oppose such a force. The future of UAVs cannot be predicted with any amount of certainty, but the network of forces that will act upon UAV development can be examined through the perspective of heterogeneous engineering, and from this examination possible paths forward can be suggested. The reader should come away with a greater understanding of just what the explosion of technological progress in the next 20 years might mean for the Air Force, the United States, and humanity at large.