The future of warfare may look less like missile silos and more like swarms of bug-sized machines. DARPA and its partners are pouring resources into insect-scale robotics — everything from Harvard’s RoboBee, which can fly, hover, and transition between air and water, to cyborg cockroaches and beetles rigged with microcontrollers. These devices are being engineered to carry sensors, microphones, and cameras, enabling next-level surveillance and reconnaissance at a scale too small for enemies to detect. Some projects even explore underwater microrobots and “robo-jellyfish” designed to monitor vulnerable infrastructure along coastlines.

While many of these technologies are still experimental, DARPA has been investing in insect-machine programs since 2006, steadily advancing their potential battlefield applications. Swarming algorithms, microfabrication, and autonomous controls are being refined to make these tiny machines more capable. Prototypes like RoboBee and Berkeley’s DASH cockroach robot already show impressive resilience — from mid-air hovering to surviving falls “from any height.” Whether for intelligence-gathering or clandestine operations, these insect-sized robots signal a new era of micro-warfare, where surveillance can literally crawl, buzz, or swim unnoticed into the heart of an enemy’s defenses.

SOURCE: Futurism