Vote it up! Image from 'T2: Judgment Day' www.solarnavigator.net (Public Domain)

'It shall be a goal of the US Armed Forces to achieve the fielding of unmanned, remotely controlled technology such that—by 2010, one-third of the aircraft in the operational deep strike force aircraft fleet are unmanned; and by 2015, one-third of the operational ground combat vehicles are unmanned.'

—National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 H.R.4205, Sec. 220.

I've recently reported on the amazing developments taking place in the worlds of robotics and bionics.

But it wasn't until I stumbled across a LiveLeak video on a robot re-assembling itself after being knocked apart, and a year-old news report from the UK on the British satellite network SkyNet now being used to control airborne Reaper hunter-killers in Afghanistan and Iraq, that it all came together for me in one word.

Terminator.

That one word not only sums up one of the most successful film franchises in Hollywood history, but our worst fears and nightmares of being hunted down relentlessly and slaughtered by near-indestructible machines with only one mission: our extermination.

Could it become more than fiction?

Let's take a look at the current technological state of each component of Terminator's mechanized horrors under SkyNet control, and I'll let you be the judge of that.

SKYNET: YES, IT'S REAL

Vote it up! The SkyNet 5A Satellite Two up, one to go. news.bbc.co.uk (Public Domain)

On March 12, 2007, the BBC reported on the launch of the British SkyNet 5A satellite, the first of three to be deployed at an estimated cost of £3.6bn (US $7.11B).

The SkyNet system will deliver secure, high-bandwidth communications for UK and allied forces.

SkyNet 5B was launched successfully on November 19, 2007. SkyNet 5C is scheduled for later this year, with an option for a future SkyNet 5D satellite.

Patrick Wood, who has led the development of the Skynet spacecraft for manufacturer EADS Astrium, said the following to the BBC after the launch:

"We've already received telemetry from it. In fact, we had a ground station see it just 10 minutes after separation. We've even sent commands to Skynet. It's behaving itself perfectly."

So far.

You can see the orbital deployment map of the SkyNet system here, and a demo of the SkyNet system in action here (Just click on 'I agree' and it will take you right there).

So what exactly does SkyNet tie into?

Land-borne, seaborne and airborne military communications and command and control system networks.

In short, everything.

And oh yeah, it is used to command the US Air Force's Reaper UAV Hunter-Killers now used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

DON'T FEAR THE REAPER?

Vote it up! The Reaper UAV: Hunter Killer of the Future? www.af.mil (Public Domain)

'The MQ-9 Reaper is the most formidable killer robot currently in operation. It's a big beast, 36 feet long with an 86-foot wingspan. It can fly for 14 hours without refuelling, going at a maximum speed of 300mph and as high as 50,000 feet - nine and a half miles up.

'The US Air Force describes it as an "unmanned hunter/killer weapon system".

The MQ9 Reaper is able to lift a hefty 3,750 pounds of munitions. This can equate to 14 laser-guided Hellfire missiles, a smaller number of Paveway smartbombs, or GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) with their own SATNAV/inertial guidance.

All these weapons have already notched up numerous kills on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The US Air Force has announced it has ordered a further quartet of MQ-9 'Reapers, worth $59m, to supplement its initial fleet of seven.

A decision on full-rate production is expected in 2009.

Whatever that means.

On to the land-borne Hunter-Killers, a.k.a the Black Knights.

THE LANDBORNE HUNTER-KILLERS

THE BLACK KNIGHT

Vote it up! The Black Knight: Present Friend, Future Foe? The Black Knight Armed Robotic Unmanned Vehicle www.defense-update.com (Public Domain)

BAE Systems is currently testing a remotely controlled, semi-autonomous armored vehicle known as "Black Knight", designed as an early prototype of an Unmanned Armed Combat Vehicle. This robotic armored vehicle is equipped with a turret mounting a 30mm gun, and coaxial machine gun, derived from the Bradley combat vehicle.

THE UNMANNED STRYKER

Vote it up! The Unmanned Stryker: Looking for Me? Unmanned Stryker Combat Armored Vehicle www.tfot.info (Public Domain)

Not to be left out, the US Army is working on CAT - short for Crew integration and Automation Test bed. It serves as the manned leader vehicle.

The other vehicle serves as an unmanned follower in a convoy. It recently conducted field tests on an unmanned Stryker Armored Vehicle.

Jeff Jaczkowski, electrical engineer and manager for this Robotic Follower Advanced Technology Demonstrator project, explained what the testing was about and why Fort Gordon was chosen.

"There are two avenues that the Army is pursuing. The near-term objective is to automate the function of driving in a convoy vehicle."

The long-term objective is to create dedicated unmanned ground vehicles.

Karl Murphy, a software engineer from Robotic Research, said there was a new principle of “Murphy’s Law” at work on the test field Feb. 10.

I hope he's kidding.

THE CRUSHER

Vote it up! The Crusher Unmanned Combat Vehicle usmilitary.about.com (Public Domain)

The Crusher weighs 14,000 pounds fully fueled, and is designed to carry a 3,000-pound payload. At this 17,000 pound total weight, two Crusher vehicles can be carried by a single C-130H aircraft at substantial range. If desired, Crusher can carry up to 8,000 pounds of payload and armor without compromising its mobility.

Crusher represents a new class of unmanned ground combat vehicles (UGCVs) developed under the DARPA/Army UGCV-Perception for Off-Road Robots Integration (UPI) program. Crusher is a highly mobile vehicle designed from the outset to be unmanned.

It is being equipped with state-of-the-art perception capabilities, and will be used to validate the key technologies necessary for an unmanned ground vehicle to perform military missions autonomously. Crusher will be equipped with representative sensing and weapons payloads for planned field experiments.

So there you have it. Your Strykers for spotters, your Black Knights to do the killing and your Crushers to finish things off.

I'm feeling a whole lot better now. How about you?

Okay, so we've got land, air and space covered, all of which fall under the Future Combat Systems umbrella.

I figure SkyNet could manage the seaborne ICBM platforms without too many problems. You know, firing sequences, targeting, that sort of thing,

But what of the man-machine himself?

Let's take a look.

FUTURE FORCE WARRIOR

Vote it up! Future Force Warrior: Man Now, Machine Later? www.rangermade.us (Public Domain)

Future Force Warrior is a United States military initiative that is part of the Future Combat Systems project. The FFW project seeks to create a lightweight, fully integrated infantryman combat system.

It is the latest in a series of network-centric, next-generation infantry combat projects the U.S. military have developed over the past decade, such as the Soldier Integrated Protective Ensemble technology demonstration program, Land Warrior, and Transformation of the United States Army.

The Future Force Warrior concept envisions the radical use of technologies such as nanotechnology, artificial powered exoskeletons, and magnetorheological fluid-based body armor to provide the infantry with significantly higher force multiplier than the opposing force.

I love that terminology, don't you? Sounds familiar, but I can't quite place it...

And of course, you're going to have to give the Man/Machine of the Future the right tools.

"DO YOU HAVE A PLASMA LASER RIFLE, 40 WATT RANGE?"

Vote it up! Boeing Laser Avenger IED-defeating Laser Boeing Tests Humvee-mounted High Energy Laser as IED Hunter. img136.imageshack.us (Public Domain)

No, but I can give you HEL.

That stands for High Energy Laser. If you really want to be a total geek, here's the DoD pdf on the project.

The above pictured IED-destroying laser is the Boeing Laser Avenger. More on the trials pictured above here.

Here's a YouTube demo of the Israeli version, the MTHEL, taking out mortar rounds, Katyusha rockets, even artillery shells.

The way miniaturization of technology is going, I don't imagine a hand-held version being that far off. Do you?

Something, say, a Terminator could handle and use to great effect, no problem?

EPILOGUE OR PROLOGUE?

With all the other fantastic advances in robotics, bionics, and cybernetics, is it really that much of a leap to forecast the Future Force Warrior suit of today becoming the automated combat soldier of the future?

Or the Future Combat Systems the land-borne Hunter-Killers of the future?

Or the Reaper, Predator and other UAVs indiscriminately firing on friend and foe alike under a master computerized command and control system?

Like, say, SkyNet?

I'd like to think so.

Want to add to the nightmare? It is possible.

Imagine SkyNet incorporating BAE's new MAST Dragonfly and Spiderbot surveillance systems to find us in all the dark corners we may hide in.

Vote it up! One of BAE's MAST Robots Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST) Spider Surveillance Robot. www.theregister.co.uk (Public Domain)

Smiling now?

If not, check out the BAE MAST demo video here and let your imagination do the rest.

I even hear CyberDyne Systems is big in the computer networking market now, too.

Putting it all together for you, Dear Readers.

Vote it up! SkyNet: The Future Is Fused www.likwidhyuzu.com (Public Domain)

Make of it what you will.

You know, the great thing about movies like Terminator, The Andromeda Strain, or even science fiction series like Star Trek (old and new) and The Outer Limits (old and new), is that they serve not only as great entertainment that makes you think, but as cautionary tales of futures that might be if we are not too careful.

See you next year, when Terminator 4 rolls off the assembly line.

If we're all still here, that is.