Rise of the machines continues in Israel

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles have become a staple of modern warfare, so it was only a matter of time before ground vehicles caught up. Although it looks like a stock racer crossed with a hatchback, the Guardium is actually Israel’s first (and the world’s second) autonomous ground attack vehicle.

The robot is designed to replace human soldiers for lengthy, tedious tasks such as patrolling, although a human operator can patch into the machine at any time. When on its own, the Guardium can navigate traffic, perform sentry work, identify targets and even engage targets. Personally, I don’t trust my toaster to get things done right, but I’m still not sure whether this marks an improvement on a jumpy 17 year old conscript with an assault rifle. John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org is quoted as saying:

A robot does what it’s told, and you’ll be able to get them to advance in ways it’s hard to get human soldiers to do. They don’t have fear, and they kill without compunction.

Now where have I heard that before?

Thanks, Brian!

7 comments April 30th, 2008