Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

US Army to Stage Largest Robot Tank Experiment Ever
defenseone.com/ ^ | OCTOBER 14, 2021 | PATRICK TUCKER |

Posted on 10/16/2021 10:22:12 AM PDT by BenLurkin

The U.S. Army intends to test an entire company of unmanned combat vehicles in simulated battle next year, a wargame that leaders called unprecedented and a big step toward refining the hardware and software that will one day enable wheeled robots to take the battlefield.

Gen. Ross Coffman, the director of Army Futures Command’s Next Generation Combat Cross-Functional Team, told reporters at AUSA this week that the closest thing to the Army’s upcoming robot exercise at Fort Hood, Texas, was last year’s platoon-sized effort at Fort Carson, Colorado.

For that exercise, the Army turned some old M113 armored personnel carriers into robots. “You can imagine that if you can turn a 113, you can turn anything into a robot,” Coffman said. “We learned a ton. There were some clear winners in the technology base. There were some that weren't as great.” Among the winners was the human-machine interface, he said.

“Now we're moving it up to company level.” he said. “The lessons learned here, we can now then apply to a brigade and to a division and see how we want to fight with these things in the future."

In August, the Army hired five firms to design prototypes for unmanned combat vehicles: Point Blank Enterprises., Oshkosh Defense, BAE Systems Land and Armaments, General Dynamics Land Systems, and American Rheinmetall Vehicles. Part of the deal: the vehicles must conform to an open systems architecture that can accomodate third-party software and sensors.

(Excerpt) Read more at technology ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: robottank; usarmy
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-27 last
To: BenLurkin

I don’t like Teslas on autopilot.

Reminds me of “Terminator 3” or “Robo Cop.”

What if the tracks get hacked? Or you don’t have air superiority?

5.56mm


21 posted on 10/16/2021 11:50:56 AM PDT by M Kehoe (Quid Pro Joe and the Ho need to go.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Killing people makes their friends and relatives really angry.

It’s never just a game.


22 posted on 10/16/2021 12:04:32 PM PDT by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ClearCase_guy
But the more we automate, the more we turn it into a video game

I agree with you......FWIW, I know a gal whose son is attending Adrian College in Michigan on a computer gaming scholarship. I found that surprising since I never heard of such a thing. Surprisingly, his scholarship is paying more than his brother who is attending college on a track scholarship......Go figure.

Apparently colleges are now adding "E-sports" to their programs.........

23 posted on 10/16/2021 12:06:15 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (Without potatoes, life has no meaning......)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

yup, autoloader, and that is why i thought it was destined as a second testbed later when the time came for full up drive by wire


24 posted on 10/16/2021 12:40:31 PM PDT by Chode (there is no fall back position, there's no rally point, there is no LZ... we're on our own. #FJB)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Is the goal here to make a superior tank, or a more expensive tank?


25 posted on 10/16/2021 1:59:36 PM PDT by Tallguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

26 posted on 10/16/2021 2:02:48 PM PDT by Magnum44 (...against all enemies, foreign and domestic...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin
This link works (the ones posted at top of page don't):

https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2021/10/us-army-stage-largest-robot-tank-experiment-ever/186110/

27 posted on 10/16/2021 2:13:44 PM PDT by dayglored ("Listen. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-27 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson