Robots lead in US warfare

Mini-robots that hunt for bombs, drones that attack in swarms, and 'mules' that do the job of soldiers are all part of the modern army kit, writes TOM CLONAN

AFTER almost a decade of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US military has begun investing heavily in the research and development of robots that can fight alongside humans on the battlefield.

The US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) recently awarded a $32 million (€24.6m) contract to Boston Dynamics, Massachusetts, to develop a four-legged robot to work alongside marines and infantry fighting in rough and uneven terrain – such as the mountains of Afghanistan.

The quadruped robot has been designated the “Legged Squad Support System” (LS3). Resembling an extra from a Star Wars sequel, the LS3 weighs approximately half a ton and looks like a large metal bin mounted sideways on top of four hydraulic legs. The LS3 will initially be deployed to carry equipment, ammunition and weapons for US troops. The general design concept for the LS3 – colloqually known as “Mule” – is that it will be able to carry 250kg of military equipment over 20 miles in a 24-hour period.

Specifically, the Mule will be able to operate in difficult terrain, which is inaccessible to wheeled, or even tracked vehicles. According to Darpa, the on-board electronic, electro-mechanical and hydraulic systems of the Mule will “allow walking, trotting and running/bounding and capabilities to jump obstacles, cross ditches and recover from disturbances”.

In addition, the robot – which will essentially function as a beast of burden for US ground troops – will have a user interface, incorporating the latest perception technologies, that will allow the robot to either autonomously traverse terrain at walking pace or to respond to simple, voice-activated commands such as “stop”, “go” or “run”.

The average US infantry soldier currently carries up to 40kg of gear into battle. Understandably therefore, marines are enthusiastic about the concept of a robot capable of carrying combat equipment over long distances. As yet, however, they are not quite as keen on the idea of the Mule being fitted with its own weapons systems. After decades of exposure to movies such as

RoboCop or Terminator, one could hardly blame them.

Other unarmed robots developed by the US defence industry include the Automatika Dragon Runner robot. Britain’s ministry of defence has just ordered 100 of these pint-sized robots for its troops operating in Afghanistan, at a cost of £12 million (€13.6m) to the UK tax-payer.

Designed to approach and destroy improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the Dragon Runner robots are carried by troops in specially designed back-packs. Weighing just 10kg, these diminutive, remote-controlled robots have a chassis area less than a foot square and can operate in cramped environments from sewers and culverts – where many IEDs are placed by insurgents – to the undersides of vehicles and entrances to buildings. Equipped with cameras, a manipulator arm and various remotely-controlled weapons platforms, the Dragon Runner can also be used by a human controller to enter and search a building, conduct reconnaissance or surveillance – or indeed form part of the perimeter security of a temporary military halting-site in the field.

Meanwhile, the University of Pennsylvania is currently researching and developing what is termed the “Swarms Project” for the US military. This RD project is based on the concept of swarms of hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, autonomously converging on enemy targets – on land, sea or in the air – and engaging them independently of direct human supervision with onboard weapons systems. This rather disturbing concept contains within it significant technical, command and control, and programming challenges for the scientists involved in its development.

“Managing such large groups of armed UAVs will be extremely challenging and will require the application of new, yet-to-be-developed, methods of communication, control, computation and sensing technologies, specifically tailored to the command and control of large-scale, autonomous vehicle groups,” according to one defence industry source.

While the Swarms concept has some distance to travel in terms of its technical development, the use of UAVs and drones in combat and airstrikes has increased dramatically since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, the US military had a handful of drones. There are now at least 5,300 deployed to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq, with a further 12,000 UAVs in reserve.

Tom Clonan is The Irish Times Security Analyst