Semi-autonomous machines help armies safeguard their soldiers by being at the forefront of disputes. However, many fear this is a dangerous step in the industry as machines cannot make life-or-death decisions. Although both arguments have their merits, uncrewed ground vehicles have started gaining popularity in numerous world armies like Britain, the United States, and Russia. They are used to remove mines, provide logistical support, and fire weapons but have the potential for much more.
Taking a step further into merging robotics with the military, recently, a remote-controlled armed robot has been unveiled that can open fire, patrol battle zones, and track infiltrators. The uncrewed robot is the latest addition to Military Robots and Unmanned Vehicles Market and might even reshape the sector significantly.
The robot is a four-wheel drive and has been developed by Israel Aerospace Industries, which is state-owned. As per its developers, the robot can be operated through an electronic tablet and provides the option to be equipped with a camera, two machine guns, and sensors. The mighty robot can gather intelligence to benefit ground troops and carry injured soldiers away from danger. Furthermore, it can also take supplies in and out of battle and quickly strike out easy targets.
The semi-autonomous jaguar comes with a machine gun and is primarily designed to ensure that soldiers' exposure to dangers needs to be lessened while patrolling the order. This can be one of the necessary tools in addition to drones armed with guided missiles.
The newly developed vehicle can be manually controlled through a tablet. However, a number of its functions, like surveillance and movement system, can also run autonomously. The device further collects data with each mission and improves it by applying new learnings to future missions.
Critics have continuously argued and raised their concerns on whether robotic weapons can decide on their own to shoot targets even erroneously. The company on the statement has clarified that such capabilities exist but are not available to the customers. Though it should be noted that possibilities exist for the weapon to be made autonomous, but it lies with the users. The system in itself has not advanced there yet.
For a long time, the development of autonomous ground vehicles had lagged behind autonomous boats and aircraft as moving across the land is by far the most difficult compared to water or air. In contrast to an open ocean, vehicles need to consider "holes in the road" and the force that needs to be applied to pass over a hurdle. But with the unveiling of the new root system, things look positive for autonomous ground vehicles.
