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Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO and current defense industry startup leader, has proposed a radical shift in U.S. military strategy. Speaking at a recent event in Saudi Arabia, Schmidt suggested that the Army should replace its tank fleet with AI-powered drones, citing their effectiveness in recent conflicts.
Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt says US military should ditch tanks in favor of drones: ‘Give them away’ https://t.co/HRgaLqTKUr pic.twitter.com/sYz1jFyUcT
— New York Post (@nypost) October 30, 2024
The proposal, reported by The Register, is based on observations from ongoing wars, particularly in Ukraine. Schmidt argued that the thousands of tanks currently in U.S. military storage are “not fit for purpose” and should be replaced with more advanced drone technology. He pointed to instances where relatively inexpensive drones have successfully destroyed multi-million dollar tanks, even using consumer-grade models to drop grenades through open turret hatches.
Schmidt’s stance is not without self-interest, as he leads White Stork, a startup developing AI-driven attack drones. The company aims to support Ukraine’s war efforts by creating low-cost, AI-guided drones capable of operating in GPS-jammed environments.
The former Google executive predicts that the decreasing cost of autonomy will lead to drones replacing traditional military equipment like tanks, artillery, and mortars. This prediction is bolstered by Russia’s significant tank losses in Ukraine, estimated at around 3,000 in the first two years of conflict.
However, both Russia and Ukraine continue to employ tanks in their military strategies, with Ukraine actively seeking Western tank support. The UK is also investing heavily in upgrading its Challenger 2 tanks to the Challenger 3 model, featuring enhanced capabilities.
🇷🇺💥🇺🇦🇪🇺🇺🇲‼️ Eric Schmidt, the former head of Google and now a scientific adviser to the US military-industrial complex, praised Russian electronic warfare capabilities‼️ pic.twitter.com/HLRm9g7UzT
— Djole 🇷🇸 (@onlydjole) July 17, 2023
Modern tanks are equipped with advanced defense systems like Trophy, which can detect and intercept incoming threats. Other countermeasures, such as laser systems to blind drone sensors, are reportedly in development.
Despite Schmidt’s proposal, military experts believe it’s unlikely that the U.S. Army will completely replace its M1 Abrams tanks with drones in the near future. Instead, a balanced approach incorporating both drones and tanks is expected to be the most probable scenario for future U.S. military operations.
