The future of high-tech warfare has arrived. Just look to the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran to see how much drones and robots have remade the modern battlefield. Is the U.S. positioned to win wars in this new era? What are the ethical constraints of waging autonomous warfare? My guest this week is Christian Brose, the president and chief strategy officer of Anduril, a defense technology company building a slate of autonomous weapons and defense systems for the American military.

00:00 - Intro
03:18 - Drones on the Russia - Ukraine battlefield
8:17 - Iran's stalemate and American military readiness
17:11 - Anduril is more than a "Lord of the Rings" reference
25:33 - Force fields and a layered defense
31:12 - The challenges of "finicky" autonomous systems
44:44 - The ethics of automating the kill chain

(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)

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Our Military Is Built for the Wrong Century

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

Our Military Is Built for the Wrong Century