Posted on 03/08/2007 7:17:44 AM PST by BenLurkin
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli defense firm on Thursday unveiled a portable robot billed as being capable of entering most combat zones alone and engaging enemies with an onboard armory that includes a machine-pistol and grenades.
The VIPeR, roughly the size of a small television, was invented as part of Israel's efforts to develop weaponry that could reduce the risks to its forces from hand-to-hand fighting against Palestinian or Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.
The manufacturer, Elbit Systems Ltd., said that the VIPeR's small size and dual treads enable it to move "undeterred by stairs, rubble, dark alleys, caves or narrow tunnels".
As well as bomb-sniffing and bomb disposal equipment, the VIPeR can carry an Uzi machine-pistol or plant a grenade. The weapons would be aimed using an onboard video camera.
According to Elbit, which has close links with the Defense Ministry, Israel plans to deploy the VIPeR among its infantry units after field tests. The robot could also be of interest to foreign police units or U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hmmmmmm? I'm thinking 2 claymores strapped to the sides.
is there a variant smeared with pig's blood?
what's the scale on that thing? Looks like it could be smaller than a foot long or so.
I think that in the next 20-30 years we could see a big shift to remote controlled robots in fighting certain types of wars such as the one we are currently involved in. Like remote airplanes are proving their worth today imagine when our troops can patrol a street, guard a corner, or raid a terrorist den using highly articulated and well armed remotely controlled robots? It takes the "terror" out of the terrorist's play-book when he can't kill our troops for the benefit of our traitorous media.
Hmmmmm. A really cheap crawler mounting a claymore mine would be even more effective.
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