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- A small group of nations are developing plans to deploy drone swarms in war.
- The drones could be used to take out air defenses, or for massed attacks.
- Some experts want the technology to be restricted.
In the doomsday scenario where tensions between China and the US erupt into conflict, the first hours of war may well look like a sci-fi movie.
Thousands of drones operating in a coordinated "swarm" could be deployed over China, hoovering up targeting information for US heavy weapons.
The scenario was sketched out in a recent document issued by the RAND Corporation, a US think tank.
The autonomous drones would use AI to inform US officials as they seek targets for precision missile strikes.
Though the scenario is speculative, and far from official US military doctrine, it is a glimpse of a plausible future, and one other countries are thinking about too.