Do military robots have a future in land warfare?
Armada International › Vol. 13 Nbr. 6, December 1989
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Do military robots have a future in land warfare?
Do Military Robots Have a Future in Land Warfare?
Darth Vader Stalks the Battlefield In essence, the military robots under development today represent the ideal soldier. They never tire as long as their power supply lasts; they are absolutely fearless; their reactions are many times faster than those of a human; they can lift or transport loads weighing many times their own weight; and last, but not least, they will eventually be able to mass-produce other robots in largely automated factories. Robots are by no means new. The German Army had some 5 000 built for battlefield applications in World War 2, which weighed from 0.4 to 3.7 tonnes. These tracked and wire-or radio-guided miniature tanks were used to destroy fortifications with the explosive charges they carried, to eliminate weapon-protected obstacles, to carry ammunition across terrain under enemy observation and fire, and to breach minefields. Tomorrow's Force Multipliers Battlefield robots being designed today have essentially the same tasks as their W W2 predecessors, namely to go into action wherever the combat environment is too dangerous for humans. The above-mentioned advantages are not however, the primary driving force behind the current efforts to develop battlefield robots in the industrial nations. The ratio of support personnel to combat troops is constantly increasing. It is currently estimated that each fighting soldier needs at least 10 men to support him, and the trend is accelerating. This is being countered by introducin...See the full content of this document
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