UKC

How long before humans can be removed from a tank and be replaced by drones?

In reply to The Lemming:

Aren't tanks pretty much obsolete now anyway?

In reply to The Lemming:

Homo sapiens version of a Dalek!

In reply to The Lemming:

Why do you need an unmanned tank if you've got an unmanned aircraft?

In reply to The Lemming:

The technology already exists but in my opinion 2 things stop it being implemented.
1 the moral argument of a driver sitting miles behind the lines in safety with the power to kill people (remote drone flying is getting more prevalent though)
2 the loss ratio, I suspect far more tanks will be lost in action if they are controlled by remote rather than guys inside them.
A safe secure driver will probably take chances that he wouldn't if he were in the line if fire.

In reply to The Lemming:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unmanned_ground_vehicle

I resisted the urge to link through LMGTFY.

In reply to The Lemming:

Whilst not tanks there are various ground vehicles, boats as well.
Majority are still remote control vehicles. In Iraq for example bomb disposal robots got repurposed for general use and now dedicated models are out there.South Korea has used some sentry robots on the DMC although I think they all need human approval before being used.
Whether there will be a direct equivalent to a tank is another question though. I would guess they would tend to be a lot smaller since you dont need to worry about crew.

In reply to The Lemming:


Yeah planes are more effective than tanks, that’s where the research funding is all going.

Personally i hate the use of weaponized drones. I think it is impossible to use them and win a hearts and minds war. There is something far to convenient about killing people with drones.

The Nazi’s came up with the V2 rocket and that was considered a terror weapon. Drones are the modern day version in my opinion.

In reply to The Lemming:

Haven't you seen Robot Wars?

In reply to Dax H:



Remote control, especially at ground level, would be very susceptible to jamming. The technology for drone tanks in the absence of human operative is what would be needed IMO.

In reply to The Lemming:

I hear they are performing well in Syria

http://www.popsci.com/russias-new-combat-robot-is-tiny-fireproof-tank

In reply to paul_the_northerner:



Yes, but " we " won, wrote the history, and did not have the technology at the time.

In reply to The Lemming:

look up the Russian (oops, nearly said Soviet) Armata tank. There is an arms race in progress now and the opposition are making strides that we are perhaps not making in NATO

In reply to Rick Graham:


And promptly stole the scientists so they could do it bigger and better for us.

In reply to The Lemming:

Well it seems we can make radio controlled tanks with no need for a driver. The issue it of course signal jamming, or worse still, interception so sending new signals to make them turn around and fire on tier own side.

I guess it could be solved by having full autonomous tanks / or drones which aren't remotely controlled but pre-programmed to go out into an environment, reach and destroy a target and work out for its self how to get there and what to kill / destroy in order to protect its self while it carries out its mission.

There would be ethical considerations to make but I think sooner or later we'll build them. We're getting there with self driving cars, on road or off road so that element already exists, the extra bit is sticking a gun to it and having some sort of friend/foe identification system by which it decides to fire or not.

In reply to RyanOsborne:


Endurance, multi-shot capability, something for infantry to hide behind, harder to 'kill'. Modern battletanks have something like a 96% first shot 'kill' rate.

In reply to The Lemming: what's the expected lifespan of a tank in battle? Not many minutes so 'droning' seems ideal. Signal interception is easy to fix.

Wasn't a bomb disposal robot repurposed as a bomb delivery robot last year in a terrorist siege?

In reply to The Lemming:
It's an old idea, the Germans developed the Goliath in WW2, not do much as an AFV but as a remote controlled demolition charge. It was a miniature tracked turretless tank. They also developed the V1 as a 'drone' and several wire/wireless remote controlled air launched aircraft, mainly for use against ships or bridges.

In reply to wbo:


Depends what they are facing. Modern tanks can deal with a hell of a lot. However there havent been any real cases of modern tanks going up against other modern equipment.


One was used to kill the Dallas gunman in July this year.

In reply to wercat:

An interesting piece of kit , Russians like their tanks.

In reply to Lord_ash2000:

>



Since when do ethics become involved when designing weapons?

If you thought ethically, you would not design and build weapons.

In reply to The Lemming:


Are you claiming that someone who makes an ASP baton or a taser is unethical?