Rise of the robots: Army Battle Lab stages unmanned ground vehicle face-off

摘要

Welcome to the machines. The Army is testing a variety of unmanned ground vehicles to see how well they can fire weapons and carry the load for a nine-man squad. Ten unmanned ground vehicles were assessed during the Oct. 7-10 tests at Fort Benning, Ga., led by the Maneuver Center of Excellence's battle lab. Three of the vehicles are designed solely to carry equipment and supplies, and the remaining seven are also capable of being fired remotely. The MCoE demonstrated, fired and displayed the armed unmanned ground vehicles for the press. The AUGV portion of the demonstration was for one day, while the load-bearing vehicles were tested over several days. The AUGVs are designed to serve two purposes on the battlefield: Maneuver with small units to close with and destroy the enemy, and to conduct reconnaissance missions.