2300 AD Deployment Logistics

[Joi Sourcebook]

I would agree, but I suspect we have a problem in that we now all know how the war in Ukraine is being fought and that is very different to the set up of 2300AD. The authors didn't know that and in any case have deliberately down played drones/robots (even Starship combat requires a human remote operator which feels highly unlikely to me). This makes sense as they are writing an RPG, where it is much more fun to play a marine making a landing from orbit and fighting off the Kafer hordes than a group of drone operators in orbit. Sorry for the tangent.

 

[tytalan]

I would agree, but I suspect we have a problem in that we now all know how the war in Ukraine is being fought and that is very different to the set up of 2300AD. The authors didn't know that and in any case have deliberately down played drones/robots (even Starship combat requires a human remote operator which feels highly unlikely to me). This makes sense as they are writing an RPG, where it is much more fun to play a marine making a landing from orbit and fighting off the Kafer hordes than a group of drone operators in orbit. Sorry for the tangent.

See but that’s not exactly true. Ships have drone fighter/missiles as a major component and the robot handbook while slanted to regular Traveller/charted space does give the rules, and remotely controlled vehicles have been a part of the cyberpunk aspect in 2300 since the beginning so your not really changing the setting. To quote tools for frontier living “Even on the Frontier, robots and drones are vital components of local economies. Given the chronic worker shortages suffered by most colonies, robots fill in the gaps. They are important in many industries requiring brute force, repetitive work or work in hazardous environments. Robots are commonplace enough that they will be in the background of almost any colony on the Frontier. From crop spiders on industrial farms to Rosies in restaurants, they are everywhere and well-accepted by most, in the same way that appliances and power tools are accepted.” So it’s not a big jump. And I’m talking more about robots than straight drones something that replaces grunts and definitely not something that looks like a human. Such units would look more like minie tanks that human infantry.

And let’s be honest the Ukrainians are just putting into practice a very old sci-fi concept. Shoot Read the Warbots series by G. Harry Stine that’s a good primer for this.

 

[Condottiere]

I'm reconfiguring Marine platoons to account for more electronic warfare aspects.

But, as seen from the Ukrainian war, it also involves culture, money, and industrial capacity.

In Twenty Fourteen, it really looked like the Russians would become world leaders in drone warfare.

 

[Joi Sourcebook]

See but that’s not exactly true. Ships have drone fighter/missiles as a major component and the robot handbook while slanted to regular Traveller/charted space does give the rules, and remotely controlled vehicles have been a part of the cyberpunk aspect in 2300 since the beginning so your not really changing the setting. To quote tools for frontier living “Even on the Frontier, robots and drones are vital components of local economies. Given the chronic worker shortages suffered by most colonies, robots fill in the gaps. They are important in many industries requiring brute force, repetitive work or work in hazardous environments. Robots are commonplace enough that they will be in the background of almost any colony on the Frontier. From crop spiders on industrial farms to Rosies in restaurants, they are everywhere and well-accepted by most, in the same way that appliances and power tools are accepted.” So it’s not a big jump. And I’m talking more about robots than straight drones something that replaces grunts and definitely not something that looks like a human. Such units would look more like minie tanks that human infantry.

And let’s be honest the Ukrainians are just putting into practice a very old sci-fi concept. Shoot Read the Warbots series by G. Harry Stine that’s a good primer for this.

Good point - and good quote (I did do a quick search to find something but missed that one). Also (getting my excuses in early) my recollection is mainly from the GDW version where some of the tanks did have tethered drones for scouting purposes but nothing like today's (2025) FPV war fighting.

 

[Joi Sourcebook]

It will be interesting to see how they handle the Invasion sourcebook.

 

[Bryn the 2300AD guy]

Todays's FPV drones are a solution to a specific set of current circumstances, and not likely to last. Indeed, EW is reaching a point where drones are "wired" again, using fibre-optics to communicate.

However, the Kafers deploy autonomous drones like the Snapfire...

 

[Sigtrygg]

Our latest drones are fully autonomous too, it is also possible to make FPV drones resistant to EW without wiring them up, it increases the costs by a large amount.

The cheapest option would be to train an AI using all the FPV data that could be harvested from Ukraine and then installing a chip in the drone to take over in the event the operator signal is interupted...

would our politicians and military authorise the use of killer robots?

 

[Condottiere]

Some definitely would.

It's seems a question more of logistics and stockpiling, you can overwhelm enemy defences and countermeasures with numbers.

Especially, with increased range, mobilization doesn't mean you have to bring (all of) them towards the front, and the axis of approach may be in another direction.

 

[tytalan]

Todays's FPV drones are a solution to a specific set of current circumstances, and not likely to last. Indeed, EW is reaching a point where drones are "wired" again, using fibre-optics to communicate.

However, the Kafers deploy autonomous drones like the Snapfire...

Though we are calling them drones they are more likely to be Robots with drone interface to allow remote command and control. So their is no need for the drone/robot being wired