＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
<2023/5/16 postscript>Both Russia and Ukraine are using drones in large numbers
Both Russia, which is now invading Ukraine, and Ukraine, which is fighting back, are deploying large numbers of drones. In modern warfare, “drone warfare” is not uncommon, and has become the norm.
<2022/10/23 Postscript> Russia Uses Iranian Drones in War of Ukraina Aggression
It has been eight months since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, with no end in sight.
The bombing of the Crimean Bridge triggered large-scale retaliatory bombings by Russia in various parts of Ukraine, including Kiev. Iranian drones were used in the bombings.
This was the moment when “drone warfare” with “AI weapons” became a reality.
１．Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
During the “Cold War” between the United States (President Kennedy) and the Soviet Union (Prime Minister Khrushchev), I once heard the term “button war. It was a frightening story that if either side pushed the “nuclear button,” the other would respond by pushing the “nuclear button” and risking the “annihilation of the human race.
In 1958, Castro led the Cuban Revolution in Cuba, a Caribbean island in the “backyard of the United States,” and a socialist government was established. The Soviet Union approached Cuba and, in 1962, signed a secret military agreement and began building a missile launch base in Cuba that could carry nuclear weapons.
A U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane spotted it, and upon receiving the report, President Kennedy called an emergency National Security Council meeting and decided to blockade Cuba by military force at sea. This is known as the “Cuban Crisis.
After negotiations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union agrees to remove its missile bases, the U.S. lifts the blockade, and the Cuban Missile Crisis comes to an end. Thus, the danger of human extinction by nuclear war was somehow averted.
２．Fully autonomous AI weapons
Recently, with the dramatic advances in AI, “medical robots” and unmanned “drones” have been advancing rapidly.
Because it is more difficult to control aerial combat using AI than it is to conduct ground attacks, many countries continue to focus their research on the use of AI for fighter aircraft, focusing on ground attacks.
The United States was developing an “unmanned fighter” called the X-47B. This fighter is the “artificial intelligence unmanned stealth fighter Pegasus” that will lead to the 6th generation fighter as the successor to the state-of-the-art stealth fighter “F-35”. However, this development plan was once cancelled for budgetary reasons. Instead, an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft and its aerial refueling aircraft are currently under development.
As a side note, the “F-35” is currently the most advanced aircraft to surpass Russia’s latest S-400 surface-to-air missile air defense system, but parts are manufactured by Turkey and other multinationals. Since Turkey recently decided to introduce the “S-400” system from Russia, the U.S. intends to stop ordering parts manufacturing from Turkey. This is because there are concerns that classified military technical information on the “F-35” will be leaked to Russia through Turkey and used to improve the performance of the “S-400”.
Speaking of the “F-35,” an Air Self-Defense Force “F-35A” disappeared and is believed to have “crashed” in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Aomori Prefecture on April 9. According to military experts, Russia and China will use any and all means to find the missing aircraft. If the aircraft is found by both countries and military secrets such as the “F-35” technology are stolen, it would be a major blow to the United States.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Ministry of Defense is said to be conducting research on high-performance unmanned combat aircraft using robot technology. Specifically, the idea seems to be that pilots of manned fighters will be accompanied by “unmanned fighters” as “row aircraft” (accompanying aircraft), which will be responsible for reconnaissance and communication missions.
China has already demonstrated that it can control 119 unmanned drones in “group flights” simultaneously. They are currently developing unmanned submarines and plan to deploy them in the South China Sea and other areas, mainly as a countermeasure against the US military. If this becomes a reality, “suicide bombing attacks” such as those by Japanese Kamikaze pilots and human torpedo attacks during the Pacific War could be carried out by “unmanned drones” and “unmanned submarines.
３．International Conference on “AI Weapons” Regulation
At the International Conference on New AI-Equipped Weapons held in Geneva, Switzerland, in March of 2019, there was a clear conflict of opinion between the United States and other major military powers and developing countries over regulations.
The U.S. emphasized the advantages of AI weapons, such as “accurate judgment,” while developing countries voiced concerns about the need for international rules and ethical aspects.
Indeed, “all-autonomous AI weapons” are also called “second nuclear weapons” because, once activated, they will target and attack on their own. It is a major change in the nature of warfare, and there is a danger that the AI will go out of control and become uncontrollable by humans, causing “robots to go to war on their own. There is also the fear of “malfunction.
Japan has stated that it will not develop killing AI weapons because it believes that human control is necessary, but will promote the development and deployment of AI-based weapons to save labor.