The trend to use armed robots on the battlefield is a growing trend within security and defence circles. Russian army officials are already running experiments to test tactics and techniques, and they are incorporating ground robots into their army. Royal Marines have been granted the ability of using unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), in combat. They are now equipped with such vehicles to support their units in battle, and to search for enemy forces on the ground.
Many defense firms have begun to develop prototype designs for unmanned ground vehicles that they can sell to the military. Textron's Ripsaw is a UGV capable of performing many missions including border patrol, perimeter defense, rescue and crowd control. The tank's electric-diesel hybrid diesel engine allows it to switch between noisy and silent modes. It can also be equipped with an optional armament of a 30-millimeter cannon.
Qinetiq, another company, announced the Titan. This robotic tank is capable of operating with or without human crew. It also meets the requirements for the Army Remote Combat Vehicle Light. These vehicles are light at around 10 tons and can carry rockets of the Javelin anti-tank missiles class. It is light but modular. Titan can be configured to fulfill different roles with different superstructures.
Other defense firms are also ready to launch UGVs at the Association of the United States Army’s Washington, D.C., trade show. Army Futures Command spoke this week to AUSA about its cross-functional teams that are working to build a future robotic army. The Next Generation Combat Vehicles Cross-Functional Team is one of these teams and is currently designing a robot platon-sized tank with different armament options.
The Reserve is searching for its own future robotic force as the US Army continues to build it. One group of Army's most elite Reserve units (the 1st Armored Cavalry Division) has been testing various robotic armored cars. These tanks have proved their ability traverse difficult terrain, making them a great addition in the reserve force.
The Russian army has been building its own robot vehicles. The Russian government released a video showing a team of human-robot scouts that feed information to the main forces, although it is not known how many of them are currently in use. Russia is planning to field a significant number of armed bots.
It's unclear how these robotic tanks will integrate into U.S. forces, but it is probable that they are tested in 2022. Lessons learned from the mock conflict will help shape the development of these machines. For now, the future robotic force looks like it is taking shape much quicker than some officials expected.