Arthur Holland Michel

The way these systems are being used is that they will serve in a fairly similar role as a human soldier.

I mean, they have weapons on them, they can advance to positions, and my sense is that they would conduct an assault in a fairly...

fairly similar manner, probably in coordination with aerial drones that give us an eye in the sky and then humans back behind the lines to safe remove operating by remote control.

As to the surrendering element, which is, of course, one of the most striking parts of this story, if you're a human soldier and you have something pointing a weapon at you, whether it is a human or a robot, you're going to respond in much the same manner.

And they are, of course, eminently aware that someone is watching through the robot

Surrendering is never a proud moment.

And I guess if you do so to a remote control vehicle, all the less so.

Obviously, the big element of this is the publicity coup that comes with not only being able to demonstrate the technological prowess, but that you're also able to put Russians at risk and get Russians to surrender without putting any Ukrainian lives on the lines.

As warfare becomes more automated, and we're suddenly seeing this also in the Gulf, it really becomes a question of numbers.

Who can produce more drones?

If you have more drones than the enemy has measures to defend against, say interceptor missiles, then you win.

And Ukraine has become undoubted leader in that respect.

I mean, maybe Russia is close in terms of its production figures, but we're talking about millions of drones a year.

There's certainly no European country that comes close, not the United States, not China.

So it's really right up there.

Well, there are two parts of it.

One is that it lowers the bar to entry.

It lowers the threshold for lethal action.

If you can put your adversary at risk, if you can create lethal effects without putting yourself in harm's way, then your calculus as to whether to take the risk to go to war changes and in general lowers.

And that is, of course, problematic.