The future of urban warfare

Abstract

Fighting in cities has always cancelled out many of the technological advantages of modern armies. Urban operations have required large numbers of infantrymen, and have usually resulted in heavy losses. The likelihood of high civilian casualties and mass destruction now make urban warfare even more difficult for the US armed forces. Beginning with the Marine Corps, America's military services have been trying to find solutions to these problems, above all by developing new technology. In the short term, this means new vision equipment, communication tools and munitions. The intention in the future is to make great use of robotic devices. But some military analysts argue that there is a risk that infantrymen will be so burdened with technology that their combat ability will be impaired. Furthermore, unless robots are given new and so far non-existent recognition devices, they may kill every living thing in their path, civilian or military.