Push to ban killer robots gets a boost from the Vatican and the pope Published 8/24/2021 thebostonpilot.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thebostonpilot.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The publication of the Nicholas Wade article of May 2021 was consistent with the Bulletin’s philosophy and mission. But the article was not released in a political vacuum. Understanding its political impact requires a brief recounting of the turmoil of 2020, which included a new, lethal, and poorly understood disease and a hotly contested presidential election.
February 8, 2021
America is building a new weapon of mass destruction, a nuclear missile the length of a bowling lane. It will be able to travel some 6,000 miles, carrying a warhead more than 20 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It will be able to kill hundreds of thousands of people in a single shot.
The US Air Force plans to order more than 600 of them.
On September 8, the Air Force gave the defense company Northrop Grumman an initial contract of $13.3 billion to begin engineering and manufacturing the missile, but that will be just a fraction of the total bill. Based on a Pentagon report cited by the Arms Control Association Association and Bloomberg News, the government will spend roughly $100 billion to build the weapon, which will be ready to use around 2029.