[Trumpinator]

Ariel drones are robots so I would dispute that this was the first time robots were used in combat. All these 'robots' seem to be remote controlled units. We actually have autonomous robots in a way with fire and forget smart missiles.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Russian Combat Robots sounds like the next PlayStation game they’ll be lining-up around the block for.

[ctdonath2]

Article ends with " It is possible that Sputnik has inside knowledge that combat robots were used and 70 militants were killed in Syria, but there is no available open source information–local media reports, videos from the scene, social media reports, etc.–that contradicts the more likely conclusion that Sputnik simply rephrased and reposted a crude, fake blog entry from a Russian social network.".

[ETL]

"According to Sputnik and multiple Russian-language blogs"

Sputnik (news agency)

Sputnik is an international multimedia news service launched on November 10, 2014 by Rossiya Segodnya, an agency wholly owned and operated by the Russian government, which was created by a Decree of the President of Russia on December 9, 2013.[2]

Sputnik replaces the RIA Novosti news agency on an international stage (which remains active in Russia)[3] and Voice of Russia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_%28news_agency%29

[PIF]

Platform M

Argo robot?

[Rannug]

The drones flying over NVN were not remotely controlled. Even back then.

[Theophilus]

If true, we've crossed a new threshold like Merrimac vs Monitor. UGCVs will change everything.

Watching for UGCV vs UGCV and autonomous operation...

[Billthedrill]

Nice bit of analysis on the author's part. He remains skeptical.

Nevertheless, an interesting bit of technology. We lost people in street-to-street fighting in Fallujah that might have been a little safer at a standoff distance with a Nintendo controller in their hands. It's no substitute for boots on the ground but it's one heck of an augment.

I've long been an advocate (OK, only half seriously) of outsourcing drone warfare to basement-dwelling computer geeks - we'd work cheap - although we'd probably have to suspend combat operations during the Army-Navy game to prevent *friendly* fire incidents. But SWAT teams are using these things now. I think it's inevitable.