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The Army has despatched at the very least one “robotic canine” armed with a man-made intelligence-enabled gun turret to the Center East for testing as a contemporary counter-drone functionality for U.S. service members, service officers confirmed.
Pictures published to the Protection Visible Data Distribution Service final week present a Ghost Robotics Imaginative and prescient 60 Quadrupedal-Unmanned Floor Automobile, or Q-UGV, armed with what seems to be an AR-15/M16-pattern rifle on rotating turret present process “rehearsals” on the Crimson Sands Built-in Experimentation Heart in Saudi Arabia in mid-September as a part of a current counter-unmanned aerial system train.
The specialised gun turret, which options a big electro-optical focusing on system with “Lone Wolf” emblazoned throughout the aspect, seems to be the identical “synthetic intelligence-enabled” system that the Military recently put through its paces throughout Operation Arduous Kill, a separate counter-UAS train led by the service’s Fight Capabilities Growth Command, or DEVCOM, and the tenth Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York, in August.
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A U.S. Military Central spokesman informed Navy.com that the armed robotic canine was one in all a number of “non-counter-sUAS” programs examined alongside 15 counter-drone platforms at Crimson Sands throughout the September take a look at and that the gun engaged a number of static floor targets, however declined to elaborate on its potential purposes. DEVCOM didn’t reply to a request for remark.
The Protection Division has been step by step incorporating robotic canine into its formations during the last a number of years. Presently, Q-UGVs perform functions starting from explosive ordnance disposal; boosting perimeter safety at delicate installations; and enhancing intelligence, surveillance, goal acquisition and reconnaissance capabilities for U.S. service members deployed in austere environments, amongst others.
Whereas nonetheless comparatively new know-how, robotic canine have already confirmed able to going locations inhospitable to human troops and performing tedious jobs reminiscent of perimeter patrols longer and with out have to relaxation.
However past these operations, the Pentagon has more and more experimented with mounting weapons programs on robotic canine. The Marine Corps, specifically, has examined quadrupedal robots outfitted with each Onyx Industries’ SENTRY remote weapon system and the M72 LAW anti-tank rocket launcher, whereas the Military has considered outfitting mechanized canines with the brand new 6.8mm XM7 rifle the service not too long ago fielded beneath its Subsequent Era Squad Weapon program to exchange the M4 carbine.
And the U.S. army is not the one combating drive pursuing four-legged weapon fight robots. In Might, the Chinese language Individuals’s Liberation Military debuted its personal robotic canine armed with a variant of the 5.8x42mm QBZ-95 assault rifle throughout a coaching train in Cambodia.
Whereas the Chinese language army train confirmed an armed robotic canine have interaction in breaching operations alongside infantry troopers, the American quadruped present process testing within the CENTCOM space of operations could potentially end up performing counter-drone missions for U.S. service members, using an unspecified AI system that may supposedly determine, monitor and interact potential airborne threats with superior accuracy and precision in comparison with the common soldier armed with, say, a standard-issue M4 carbine or M249 Squad Automatic Weapon.
Amid a rising tide of drone threats within the Center East and elsewhere, the Pentagon is working extra time to fast-track novel counter-drone options to service members abroad which can be cheaper than standard missiles.
These options embrace comparatively low-cost missiles such because the Coyote interceptor; directed-energy weapons reminiscent of vehicle-mounted high-energy lasers and high-powered microwaves; and smart scopes, rifle-mounted jammers and “buckshot-like” ammo to assist improve infantry troops’ accuracy with their standard-issue rifles.
Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin stated in a letter on Friday that the second tranche of the Pentagon’s crucial “Replicator” initiative would explicitly concentrate on counter-drone programs to guard U.S. service members overseas.
Aside from cheaper missiles and unique power weapons, the U.S. army additionally seems centered on autonomous weapons as a contemporary counter-drone functionality. Among the many different applied sciences showcased alongside the armed robotic canine on the Military’s current Arduous Kill and Crimson Sands counter-drone experiments are the Containerized Weapon System from protection contractor Invariant, which may come outfitted with both FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missiles or a variety of remotely operated gun systems, and the autonomous Mission Master XT unmanned floor automobile from weapons producer Rheinmetall, which options twin 7.62mm M134D miniguns. The Pentagon additionally not too long ago examined the Bullfrog autonomous gun system from protection know-how startup Allen Management Methods that, by linking a 7.62mm M240 machine gun to an AI-powered turret, purports to have the ability to swat drones out of the sky with a minimal variety of expended rounds.
This growing emphasis on autonomous gun programs is probably going as a result of price calculus at the moment dealing with U.S. forces overseas, which have spent the final 12 months losing costly surface-to-air missile programs on comparatively low-cost weaponized drones.
In distinction to these expensive missiles — and even the Coyote interceptor, which nonetheless prices $100,000 a shot — protection contractors claim AI-powered robotic weapons can monitor, have interaction and destroy fast-moving targets with out having to expend dozens (and even a whole lot) of rounds within the course of like the common U.S. service member, decreasing the cost-per-kill of an incoming drone menace to a handful of {dollars}.
And by slapping these programs on high of separate unmanned platforms, robotic weapons can ostensibly add a further layer of persistent menace safety whereas liberating up service members for extra vital duties.
That the Military is experimenting with armed robotic canine does not essentially imply they will find yourself deploying alongside U.S. troops downrange anytime quickly. When Navy.com beforehand queried DEVCOM about plans to mount an XM7 rifle on a Q-UGV, a spokesman emphasized that such experiments are a part of the command’s continued efforts to “discover the applying of human-machine integration” in fight forward of the subsequent large battle.
“Whereas superior know-how demonstrations permit us to discover the realm of the potential with regards to transformative capabilities for future fight formations, they do not essentially characterize or lead to formal service-wide analysis packages or investments,” the spokesman stated on the time.
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Editor’s word: This story was up to date following clarification from U.S. Military Central that the robotic canine was not examined as an anti-drone measure at Crimson Sands in September.
Nermeen Nabil Khear