Meet Future Super-Soldier

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A U.S. Army video shows its concept of the soldier of the future. At first glance, it looks like it will only be a better-equipped soldier. But the video mentions “neural enhancement.” That can mean a brain implant that connects a human to computers.  

The US defense agency DARPA has been working on an advanced implant that would essentially put the human brain “online.” There could also be eye and ear implants and other circuitry under the skin to make the optimal fighting machine.

The super soldiers of the future could simply have enhanced abilities, or they could be part man and part machine; what are known as cyborgs. Americans will have to decide whether this is ethical because some in the US military clearly want it, says faithwire.com.

The former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe has warned that China is already developing biologically enhanced “super soldiers,” using “unethical” medical experiments. 

China expert Gordon Chang says, “This is a big effort on the part of the Chinese government, there are no ethical standards,” Chang says, “There are no laws. The Chinese regime believes in general that it can do what it wants.” 

Over the years, DARPA has launched ambitious research programs that would turn soldiers into self-healing super-humans with telepathic-like abilities. When combined, its recent research programs could be melded together to create a super-soldier that is impervious to mosquito bites, can pilot and/or control up to 250 drones telepathically through a brain-computer interface (BCI), and can be rapidly healed on the battlefield through tissue regeneration and neurotech. The super-soldier of the future will run fast, need little sleep, and little to eat or drink. And they’ll be able to fight much longer than ordinary humans. 

Yet the ethical question remains – should it be done?