The US built an expensive, exquisite, and highly controlled inventory of unmanned systems for the wars on terror. What would happen to that arsenal when faced with a new political world of a rising China, an expansionist Russia, and a nuclear North Korea? Enter today’s world where the unmanned investments of the war against terror may no longer feel relevant for the wars of today. As AI and autonomy advances, we are seeing new experimentation on the battlefield with small quadcopters, increasingly autonomous land and naval mines, cheap drones and cruise missiles, hypersonic ballistic missiles, and an increasingly crowded and important space domain. How will the US respond? In this episode, we discuss Ukraine, China, and Houthi rebels and talk to those leading the ideas and decisions about technology in the American military. How will autonomy shape the future of war and what should the US invest in?
ABOUT THE PODCAST
The Hand Behind Unmanned is a limited series podcast about the people who design, direct, and deploy America’s arsenal of unmanned weapons. The limited series podcast tells stories about their beliefs, identities, and the ways in which human ideas about warfare created and continue to shape today’s drone revolution. It is a history of US investment in mines, torpedoes, missiles, satellites, bombs, and drones from the point of view of the generals, admirals, career bureaucrats, academicians, politicians, and entrepreneurs that guided, dictated, and sometimes manipulated technology to create autonomous systems.
You can also pick up a copy of the book “The Hand Behind Unmanned: Origins of the US Autonomous Military Arsenal” by Jacquelyn Schneider and Julia Macdonald. Available now: https://www.hoover.org/research/hand-behind-unmanned-origins-us-autonomous-military-arsenal?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=description&utm_campaign=thbu_description
__________
The opinions expressed on this channel are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hoover Institution or Stanford University.
© 2025 by the Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University.
🔔 Subscribe for more discussions: @HooverInstitution
👍 Like and share this video!
🌐 Follow us on social media:
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HooverInstStanford
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hoover-institution-at-stanford-university
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/hooverinstitution
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hooverinstitution
• X: https://www.twitter.com/HooverInst
