War at Machine-Speed

Episode 49 - Targeting at Machine Speed

This week on Prosthetic Gods, Nir and J speak with Major Michael Brodka, a U.S. Army military intelligence officer and author of the July 2026 Military Review article “By Algorithm or Order.” Major Brodka argues that the U.S. Army's human-paced targeting doctrine is dangerously misaligned with the rapid emergence of machine-speed, AI-enabled warfare being pursued by adversaries like China and Russia. It asserts that to close this critical "velocity gap," the military must reform its doctrines, organizations, and training to integrate lethal autonomous weapon systems under lawful human-on-the-loop control.

Show Notes:

“By Algorithm or Order” Michael Brodka

DoD Directive 3000.09: Autonomy in Weapon Systems

Department of Defense Law of War Manual

Field Manual (FM) 3-60:Army Targeting

2023 DoD Data, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence Adoption Strategy

Michael A. Santoro, “Designing Lethal Decisions: AI, Accountability, and the Future of Military Judgment,” Modern War Institute (16 Apr 2026)

Jesse R. Crifasi, “Targeting at Machine Speed: The Capabilities—and Limits—of Artificial Intelligence,” Modern War Institute (17 Jul 2025)

As always, listeners can contact us at prostheticgods@gmail.com with questions, comments, and suggestions for future topics.

Credits: