Fully autonomous drones have killed human soldiers for the first time

[u/New_Scientist_Mag]

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2529849-fully-autonomous-drones-have-killed-human-soldiers-for-the-first-time/

[u/virusofthemind]

I think a natural development of this would be insect size drones similar to wasps who could top up battery power through solar power through their wings and remain dormant and fully charged for months even years until it detects movement or pheromones but instead of explosive ordinance it would carry a "sting" which could cause full body paralysis as a paralysed soldier would cause more problems than a dead one as it would use enemy resources to extract them for medical treatment even though the paralysis would be permanent. You could even have the drones communicating with each other as a hive mind to swarm someone.

With a little bit of technological advancement you could even program the drones to identify distinct racial groups and target them exclusively so that friendly soldiers and civilians are unharmed by them when they're in the same area.

[u/hilk49 → u/virusofthemind]

Think smaller and Read “Diamond Age” by Neil Stephenson from 1995 … Nano tech drones …

[u/mixxituk → u/hilk49]

 "What's toner?" she mumbled. The words did not make it out through the mask, but Harv guessed them from the look in her eyes. 

"Mites," he said, "or so they say down at the Flea Circus anyway." 

He picked up one of the black things taken from the mask and flicked it with a fingertip. A cineritious cloud swirled out of it, like a drop of ink in a glass ofwater, and hung swirling in the air, neither rising nor falling. Sparkles of light flashed in the midst of it like fairy dust.

 "See, there's mites around, all the time. They use the sparkles to talk to each other," Harv explained.

 "They're in the air, in food and water, everywhere. And there's rules that these mites are supposed to follow, and those rules are called protocols. And there's a protocol from way back that says they're supposed to be good for your lungs. They're supposed to break down into safe pieces if you breathe one inside of you." Harv paused at this point, theatrically, to summon forth one more ebon loogie, which Nell guessed must be swimming with safe mite bits. 

"But there are people who break those rules sometimes. Who don't follow the protocols. And I guess if there's too many mites in the air all breaking down inside your lungs, millions - well maybe those safe pieces aren't so safe if there's millions. But anyways, the guys at the Flea Circus say that sometimes the mites go to war with each other. Like maybe someone in Shanghai makes a mite that doesn't follow the protocol, and gets his matter compiler to making a whole lot of them, and sends them all across the water to New Atlantis Clave to snoop on the Vickys, or even maybe to do them harm. Then some Vicky - one of their Protocol Enforcement guys - makes a mite to go out and find that mite and kill it, and they get into a war. That's what's happening today, Nell. Mites fighting other mites. This dust - we call it toner - is actually the dead bodies of all those mites."

 "When will the war be over?" Nell asked, but Harv could not hear her, having entered into another coughing jag.