KILL-CHAIN

Originally posted at Dispatches from Reality, by Scipio Eruditusdfreality.substack.com

The facelessness of modern war…

“In Desert Storm, battalion, brigade, and division commanders had to rely on maps, grease pencils, and radio reports to track the movements of our forces.

Today, our commanders have a real-time display of our armed forces on their COMPUTER screen.”

— Vice President Dick Cheney, Member of the CFR & Bohemian Club


Previous Entries


Warfare as we know it has changed.

No longer is it the struggle between man and man, but man and machine.

In the thoroughly blood-soaked annals of modern warfare, technological prowess has fully converged with strategic doctrine. A stark reality now faces us: the advent of drone warfare and AI weaponry, heralding a new era of war — one where the tenuous boundaries of accountability are about to be erased. At the heart of this evolution lies the insidious rise of autonomous weapon systems, where algorithms replace human judgment and the very essence of what a soldier is stands to be redefined. This sadistic stratagem is a present reality in Gaza, one veiled under the guise of progress, for today’s technologies herald a coming age of bloodshed on a heretofore unprecedented scale.

Drone warfare, once hailed as a precision tool of military strategy, has quickly morphed into a harbinger of indiscriminate destruction. The allure of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with the ability to surveil, strike, and vanish without risk to human pilots has seduced military minds; obscuring the human costs of war. The hard moral, physical, and mental choices required of a soldier in the heat of combat have become increasingly stripped from modern warfare. Instead of having to immediately grapple with the moral implications of the death we deal, the press of a button from miles or continents away can end lives without the messiness of blood or the stink of piss, feces, and death it brings. Never has it been easier and more bloodless to execute the “enemy”.

Since the COVID PsyOp began, AI has been increasingly deployed by the cryptocracy in the name of national defense (emphasis mine):

The Project Salus effort, for instance, which began in March of this year, puts artificial intelligence to work helping to predict shortages for things like water, medicine and supplies used in the COVID [PsyOp], said Mulchandani…

Project Salus — named for the Roman goddess of safety and well-being — fills that role.

“We [now have] roughly about 40 to 50 different data streams coming into project Salus at the data platform layer,” he said. “We have another 40 to 45 different AI models that are all running on top of the platform that allow for … the Northcom operations team … to actually get predictive analytics on where shortages and things will occur.”

Where it Counts, U.S. Leads in Artificial Intelligence, DOD News. July 9th, 2020

A system algorithmically designed to identify weaknesses, yeah, hard to think of how that could be abused.

The yet more insidious twist in this narrative comes with the integration of autonomous weapon systems into the mosaic warfare concept. Originally conceived as a strategic framework to blend diverse capabilities into a synergistic whole, mosaic warfare now takes on a darker hue. Autonomous drones, linked to a vast network of sensors, intelligence algorithms, and command structures, become the faceless artists of destruction in this grisly mosaic of death. They operate beyond traditional rules of engagement, beyond human conscience, executing directives with cold efficiency and ruthless precision.

 

—Mosaic warfare visualized. Source: DARPA.

 

The complex tapestry of today’s battlefield is already being impacted by AI, with decisions to deal death and destruction already being farmed out to lines of code. As the skies fill with these silent sentinels, their deadly payloads are quickly becoming controlled by algorithms devoid of morality or restraint. With this doctrinal dilemma unfolding before us, the specter of mass civilian casualties looms ever larger. Autonomous weapon systems and AI driven drones are key to the Pentagon’s latest innovations in mass slaughter national defense, dubbed mosaic warfare (emphasis mine):

In Mosaic warfare, individual warfighting platforms are assembled — like the ceramic tiles in mosaics — to make a larger picture or, in this case, a force package. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing this novel warfighting construct to acquire, field, and employ forces…

Distributed Kill Chains: Drawing Insights for Mosaic Warfare from the Immune System and from the Navy

We must delve into drone warfare and AI weaponry, unmasking the perils of autonomous weapon systems that seek to cast away the tenuous bonds of accountability.

Dubbed the “kill-chain”, this ethical quagmire of warfare conducted via algorithms is one where the sanctity of civilian lives becomes a casualty of technological hubris. The kill-chain is a vulgarization of the bureaucratic process by which death is dealt through the faceless machines of modern war, now being both streamlined and encumbered. On the one hand, AI adds a layer of logistics and complexity; but on the other, it strips responsibility from the wielder of these weapon systems by creating an exterior onus of responsibility: a sophisticated algorithm can not be tried for crimes or held responsible for its mistakes. This distributed network of military assets, both manned and unmanned, make up the murderous mosaic of the modern war-machine.

The very notion of war crimes loses its edge when the perpetrators are lines of code and emotionless drones executing programmed directives.

 


“If someone comes out of a liquor store with a weapon and fifty dollars in cash, I don’t care if a DRONE kills him or a policeman kills him.”

— Senator Rand Paul1


 

Net-centric warfare is a paradigm within military strategy that embodies the seamless integration of information, communication, and technology to achieve full spectrum dominance of the battlespace. It represents a strategic framework wherein interconnected networks of sensors, platforms, and decision-makers converge to enable real-time execution of military operations across all domains of combat. At its core, netcentric warfare seeks to leverage advanced information technologies to enhance command and control capabilities to their utmost potential. This approach eschews traditional hierarchical structures, instead emphasizing agility, flexibility, and adaptability in responding to dynamic threats on the battlefield.

 

— A Tactical Operations Center (TOC).

 

The concept of full spectrum dominance is inexorably tied to netcentric warfare, encompassing the ability to control and influence every aspect of the modern battlespace:

“Full-spectrum dominance” is an overarching feature of the United States (US) Department of Defense’s (DOD) “Joint Vision 2020,” referring to the ability of US forces to confront, engage, and defeat adversaries in the twenty-first century security environment…

“Full Spectrum Dominance”: US National Security Doctrine in the New Global Security Environment, by Scott N. Romaniuk

From traditional kinetic engagements to cyber operations, electronic warfare, PsyOp’s, and information warfare, every arena of conceivable war has either been identified or exploited by the security state. At its doctrinal nexus, this methodology seeks to achieve superiority across the entirety of the electromagnetic spectrum while harnessing the power of information to outmaneuver adversaries.

In essence, netcentric warfare embodies a holistic approach to military strategy, one where the synergy of technology, information superiority, and strategic agility converges to establish dominance across all dimensions of the battlefield.

Hopelessly entwined with this modern methodology is the proliferation of drones as the all-purpose weapon of today & tomorrow’s war.

 


“What one Predator drone pilot described of his experience fighting in the Iraq war while never leaving Nevada:

‘You’re going to war for 12 hours, shooting weapons at targets, directing KILLS on enemy combatants. Then you get in the car and you drive home, and within 20 minutes you’re sitting at the dinner table talking to your kids about their homework.”

— P. W. Singer, Military Historian


 

In warzones around the world, the proliferation of drone warfare and AI weaponry has become a grim reality. The DoD has long had autonomous weapons directives, and intentionally vague ones at that (see DoD Directive 3000.09: Autonomy in Weapon Systems). Some 1,500 police departments operate drones on a regular or semi-regular basis. Groups like the Houthis in Yemen and both sides in Ukraine are among those deploying these novel technologies. A new era of war marked by remote-controlled devastation has been ushered in, and with it the erosion of traditional notions of accountability or liberty.

The Houthi insurgency in Yemen has leveraged drones as a potent tool in their arsenal of weaponry. The use of cheap UAVs for surveillance, reconnaissance, and kamikaze attacks have significantly challenged the capabilities of conventional forces, not just in the Red Sea but in warzones across the world. Similarly, in The Ukraine (where geopolitical tensions are at a boil after the 3/22 terrorist attack), drones and AI-driven weaponry have become integral to the battlefield. NATO’s proxy Ukrainian forces have turned to autonomous systems for defensive and offensive actions, showcasing the rapidly evolving nature of modern war.

 

— Russian soldier launching an Inferno drone bomber. Source: Russia Today.

 

In the besieged enclave of Gaza, the Israeli military’s relentless use of drone warfare and AI weaponry paints a harrowing picture of modern warfare’s darkest facets:

After the 11-day war in Gaza in May 2021, officials said Israel had fought its “first AI war” using machine learning and advanced computing.

The latest Israel-Hamas war has provided an unprecedented opportunity for the IDF to use such tools in a much wider theatre of operations and, in particular, to deploy an AI target-creation platform called “the Gospel”, which has significantly accelerated a lethal production line of targets

We prepare the targets automatically and work according to a checklist… It really is like a factory. We work quickly and there is no time to delve deep into the target. The view is that we are judged according to how many targets we manage to generate.”

‘The Gospel’: how Israel uses AI to select bombing targets in Gaza, The Guardian. December 1st, 2023

As if this perversely named abomination was not insulting enough, we are fed nauseating propaganda about the remarkable precision of this blasphemous weapon platform. Amidst the rubble are cries for justice, and what is unfolding is not merely a war in Gaza: it is a systematic campaign that reeks of genocide. The “precision strikes” being touted as surgical by the Israelis are nothing short of a calculated brutality, targeting civilian infrastructure and lives with impunity.

These lethal drones, armed with sophisticated algorithms and deadly payloads, stalk their victims like silent reapers roaming the skies. The term “autonomous weapon systems” shields the grim reality of a machine unleashed without conscience or remorse. In Gaza, this mechanized genocide plays out daily, leaving behind shattered homes and shattered lives.

Beyond these examples, militaries worldwide are grappling with the implications of integrating autonomous weapon systems into their arsenals. The allure of precision strikes without risking one’s life is a seductive proposition to the warfighter, yet it comes with profound ethical dilemmas and strategic complexities. The use of drones and AI-driven weapons by various state and non-state actors underscores the dire threat posed by this rapidly evolving form of warfare. As of the writing of this article, there are still no international treaties governing the use of autonomous or AI-driven weapons (not that laws mean much to psychopaths).

 


“A drone strike is a terror weapon, we don’t talk about it that way. It is; just imagine you are walking down the street and you don’t know whether in 5 minutes there is going to be an explosion across the street from some place up in the sky that you can’t see. Somebody will be killed, and whoever is around will be killed, maybe you’ll be injured if you’re there.

That is a TERROR weapon. It terrorizes villages, regions, huge areas. It’s the most massive terror campaign going on by a long shot.”

— Noam Chomsky


 

Lost in much of the manufactured COVID hysteria was the encroachment of algorithm based decision making on military strategy and doctrine. As of 2020, AI pilots are outperforming human pilots in simulations, with real-world trials soon to come (emphasis mine):

As an example of the tectonic impact of machine learning on the future of warfighting, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently conducted its third and final F-16 combat simulation between an AI-controlled system and an experienced Air Force fighter pilot. The AI agent’s resounding victory demonstrated the ability of advanced algorithms to out-perform humans in virtual dogfights. These simulations will culminate in a real-world competition involving full-scale tactical aircraft in 2024.

Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, September 9th 2020

While these results paint a grim picture for human pilots, Defense analyst Dr. Mark J. Lewis says “I don’t see human fighter pilots being phased out. I see their effectiveness being enhanced by cooperation with artificial intelligence systems”. Indeed, the merger of man and machine is the future, some would say the present, vision of warfare.

Pursuant to this vision, War Inc. has been investing heavily into brain computer interfaces (BCI) as the initial foray into this merger (a topic I have covered extensively in The Borg Initiative). As far back as 2018, single drone studies were being conducted:

Before drone swarm studies became active, a BCI-based single-unit drone studies had begun first. Wang et al. designed a wearable BCI system [in 2018] based on the steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP), which enables three-dimensional navigation of quadcopter flight with visual feedback using a head-mounted device.

Towards Brain-Computer Interfaces for Drone Swarm Control, Jeong et al. February 2020

With advances in algorithmic modeling, drone swarms piloted solely through one’s brainwaves and augmented by AI are not science fiction, but science fact. As always, these technologies are cloaked in beneficent overtones, such as helping the mute communicate, making the lame walk, etc.

 

— A drone swarm in visualized. Source: Jeong et al.

 

In 2022, the National Geospatial Agency started Project Maven, an algorithm driven initiative ostensibly to aid “national security” by identifying threats more rapidly. These “significant advances” led to the formal adoption of AI-driven data sifting of aerial imagery by the surveillance arms of the Federal leviathan.

The faux populist and government welfare queen Elon Musk is not only helping to whitewash BCIs through this same faux-philanthropy angle, his newly announced surveillance network of satellites aims to harness advances in AI driven surveillance. Don’t worry though, I’m reliably told that the guy who’s grandpa founded Technocracy Inc.; whose mom is an Illuminati witch; a guy who wears literal demon armor and sported a Novus Ordo Seclorum jacket; yeah, he’s on our side. A champion for free speech, or something.

If injecting the surveillance state with steroids is supposedly him acting on our behalf, I’d hate to see what Elon would be up to were he acting against it.

 

 


“With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the DEMON. In all those stories where there’s the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, it’s like, yeah, he’s sure he can control the demon.

Didn’t work out.”

— Elon Musk


 

In conclusion, we find ourselves in the throes of a monumental paradigm shift where warfare has transcended the realm of human accountability. The insidious integration of autonomous weapon systems into military strategies is not just a technological advancement: it is a descent into a new era of mechanized genocide. Gone are the days of moral quandaries on the battlefield, instead replaced by algorithms and machines devoid of conscience. The very essence of what it means to be a soldier, to grapple with the necessary moral quandaries of war, is being eroded by the allure of UAVs and AI-driven weaponry.

No longer confined to battlefields, assaults upon the body politick have been commencing with alarmingly methodical regularity. Drones and autonomous weapons systems are merely harbingers of what I believe my research has demonstrated is already here: sophisticated, technological, self-driven weapon systems have become the norm within modern warfare. What we are living through has been envisioned for some time:

The technetronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled societydominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values

Unhindered by the restraints of traditional liberal values, this elite would not hesitate to achieve its political ends by using the latest modern techniques for influencing public behavior and keeping society under close surveillance and control. Under such circumstances, the scientific and technological momentum of the country would not be reversed but would actually feed on the situation it exploits. It would tap the nation’s intellectual talent for broad target planning and exploit the existence of doctrinaire groups by using them as social barometers and as sources of novel ideas. Persisting social crisis, the emergence of a charismatic personality, and the exploitation of mass media to obtain public confidence would be the stepping-stones in the piecemeal transformation of the United States into a highly controlled society.

Zbigniew Brzeziński, Between Two Ages, 1970

For generations now, men driven by a soulless and satanic devotion to their remade world order have worked tirelessly to engineer us into enslavement. These technological horrors are the stormtroopers of that nightmarish regime.

The fallacious narrative of precision strikes and surgical warfare is a verbal smokescreen: a faux-intellectual facade that veils the mass slaughter and indiscriminate devastation wrought by these technological abominations.

The use of drones and algorithm-driven weapons by state and non-state actors alike is not progress, it is a high-tech regression into rank barbarism under the guise of strategic innovation.

 

Kill-Chain, digital art, 2024.

 


“This thing is happening in the background, while people bicker about politics and what’s gonna be in the health care plan in the U.S., while underneath it all is this rising TSUNAMI that, if we’re not careful, is going to wipe us all out.”

— Geordie Rose, Founder of D-WAVE Quantum Computers


Further Research

Drones, Inc. by Russia Today

A Theory of the Drone by Gregoire Chamayou

As an Amazon Associate I Earn from Qualifying Purchases
Click to visit the TBP Store for Great TBP Merchandise
Subscribe
Notify of
guest
17 Comments
realestatepup
realestatepup
March 26, 2024 10:42 am

Read The Forever War and get back to me.

Glock-N-Load
Glock-N-Load
  realestatepup
March 26, 2024 2:57 pm

Exerpt?

Colorado Artist
Colorado Artist
  Glock-N-Load
March 26, 2024 11:17 pm

comment imagev

Ray Gun
Ray Gun
  realestatepup
March 26, 2024 3:54 pm

Wait, the computer chip went out? Call China. What 4 weeks shipping delays? Were are the paper maps and grease pencils?

Anonymous
Anonymous
  realestatepup
March 26, 2024 11:45 pm

Haldeman or something else? Because it turns out he is on the side of xem.

Erik
Erik
March 26, 2024 10:43 am

So in the past, whenever the population started to get “rebellious”, the traitors (church and friends) would report that in an early stage. Then our beloved noble, royal bloodlines could choose to replace the leader, poison the population or orchestrate a controlled war. So, that is what we see today. There are no real wars! No real governments! No real church, or even a religion! AND NO REAL ROYALS!

kfg
kfg
March 26, 2024 11:24 am

“Russian soldier launching an Inferno drone bomber.”

Capable of carrying a payload of two M80s.

Tlate
Tlate
March 26, 2024 1:34 pm

We all know how well the “kill chain” worked in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was very successful in killing a lot of innocent civilians better known as “collateral damage” in us military lingo. Another issue is for the kill chain to be fully effective you need nearly complete automation; problem is commanders like to be in control. Target identification and confirmation are still an issue. Plenty of drone operators zapped the wrong target and /or caused collateral damage. I doubt that was discussed at the dinner table. I am not saying it doesn’t work it does but lots of variables come into play especially when you start delaying reaction times (human factor). In addition, the operation and maintenance of all this high-tech weaponry is difficult especially in forward deployed units. You know who benefits the most from the kill chain? US military contractors. They develop all this technology, sell it then maintain and in a lot of cases operate it for the us military while making huge profits. Lots of the kill chain tech is fraught with maintenance and operational issues. So, cost goes up exponentially and final product is nowhere near what was promised and way over budget. Need an example? I will give you two the F-22 and the Littoral Combat Ship(LCS).

Obbledy
Obbledy
March 26, 2024 1:34 pm

Whoa,had to break out the Fenergin to get through this article……this kind of stuff sickens me to no end!!!….the only thing worse is people perpetrating and supporting EVIL in the name of good………it doesn’t work that way….

Horseless Headsman
Horseless Headsman
March 26, 2024 1:36 pm

On a sad note, I think The Asteroid is going to be too late.

On the upside, if they put all their efforts into this remote net-based warfare using AI drones etc, then a comprehensive EMP could significantly reduce hostilities.

Glock-N-Load
Glock-N-Load
March 26, 2024 2:57 pm

We knew this day was coming, no?

WTF
WTF
March 26, 2024 4:43 pm

Yeah, well you can bet that the Russians have a hypersonic missile aimed right at that Nevada facility.

Anthony Aaron
Anthony Aaron
March 26, 2024 5:57 pm

One of the unspoken aspects of this is that it assumes that the US will be at war against another nation — on their territory, not on our home territory. In that scenario, we feel free to do whatever we please — destroying people and property with impunity.

But what of an attack here on our home turf … one that might occur in many places at once, or seemingly so? What use is this.

The Vietnam war ended just 49 years ago … the Afghanistan war was brought to an end just 3 years ago … and all that this article posits seems to show that our bright young military brats haven’t learned one thing from those 2 engagements … let alone from what the European nations have had to deal with insofar as terrorism is concerned.

Another unspoken aspect of the article … all of this is equally usable against an enemy that may be not only foreign, but one that is domestic … i.e., ‘deplorables’, or other ‘domestic terrorists’ that the government wants to silence once and for all.

Anonymous
Anonymous
March 26, 2024 11:47 pm

Grossman’s books are shit.

bert33
bert33
March 27, 2024 5:44 am

bla bla bla, its missile wars, now. try to keep up, yo.

Anonymous
Anonymous
March 27, 2024 7:06 am

I still keep paper maps and compass in my truck. I remember learning orienteering in the army in those map and compass days. Move by azimuth. I wonder if new privates are being taught those skills still.

BigMoe
BigMoe
March 27, 2024 8:17 am

This will end poorly for EVERYONE.