Soviet dead hand system could launch retaliatory missiles without human action

Evidence

But the Soviets, meanwhile, were building a new weapon of their own—an automated launch system that could fire retaliatory missiles even after the command center was destroyed. The “dead hand,” as it was called, was a satellite-based network of sensors that, once activated, could automatically fire Soviet ICBMs to previously targeted coordinates without a human having to push a button. — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 572 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

In the United States, the Department of Defense today looks forward to “gradually reducing the role of human control and decision” in the functioning of drones. Although it may initially be a matter of moving into a “supervised autonomy,” in the long term the aim is to establish total autonomy. At this point, human agents would be neither in the loop nor over it (in the sense of supervision), but completely out of the loop. What is envisaged is a situation in which “robots are capable of exerting lethal force without human control or intervention.” — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 652 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Cold War adversaries developed automated retaliation systems that removed humans from the kill decision — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 572; Mobility and concealment made Cold War missile platforms near impossible to target; Remote-controlled weapons treat the enemy as dangerous material to be eliminated unilaterally — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 142 (+1 more)

Related

• Cold War adversaries developed automated retaliation systems that removed humans from the kill decision (similarity 0.88)
• The Pentagon aims for drones to exert lethal force without human control (similarity 0.86)
• Autonomous armed robots can select and destroy targets without human control (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Cold War adversaries developed automated retaliation systems that removed humans from the kill decision #exemplifies (0.90) — Emlen, Douglas J, Animal Weapons_ The Evolution of Battle, 572
• Mobility and concealment made Cold War missile platforms near impossible to target #expands (0.60)
• The Pentagon aims for drones to exert lethal force without human control #expands (0.55) — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 652
• Remote-controlled weapons treat the enemy as dangerous material to be eliminated unilaterally #complicates (0.50) — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 142