Technology will increasingly allow the most sophisticated and best equipped militaries — primarily that of the US — to fight battles using robots rather than soldiers.

Ideas on the drawing board or in development include killer satellites that could destroy an enemy’s satellites, a Common Aero Vehicle (CAV) that could swoop with hypersonic speed up to 3,000 miles to attack a target, Hyper-Velocity Rod Bundles that would fire tungsten bars weighing 100kg from a permanently orbiting platform, and a space-based laser that uses mirrors to direct the sun’s rays against ground targets.