14 | MANE AEROSPACE, DEFENCE & SPACE | JANUARY 2018
How long before robots replace our soldiers?
The British Army has been testing a new line of robotic vehicles in a planned exercise in the United States. These driverless robotic 4X4s handle all terrains and are being test to improve the method of transporting ammunition, fuel and food to the front lines. The vehicles are crossed by unseen British soldiers using Xbox controllers. This project is to reduce the risk of the notoriously dangerous operation of delivering supplies to the front lines. Defence Minister Harriett Baldwin said: 'One hundred years ago we pioneered tank warfare with our US allies, and today we remain right at the forefront of military technology together.
Britain and the US are not the only countries to develop automated technology for their armies. Russia’s military have been developing a new armed robot tank, sources say that it outperformed manned vehicles in exercises.
The tank which is known as Nerehta has a variation of weapons which can be fitted, a 12.7mm or 7.62mm machine gun or an AG-30M grenade launcher. After a slow start to the unmanned systems Russia’s military are now investing heavily in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs).
The Russian army has already deployed the UGV Uran-6. It is able to remove mines and roadside bombs. The Uran 9 is a much larger UGV weighing in at 10 tons, it is armed with a huge 30mm cannon along with a 7.62mm machine gun.
Is Artificial intelligence the next space race?
14 | MANE AEROSPACE, DEFENCE & SPACE | JANUARY 2018