The War Against The Machines Has Arrived

While the world cannot be certain that there will ever be another war between major global powers, one thing is certain: If there is another war, it will be a war against the machines.

The annual Association of the United States Army convention held in Washington on Monday through Wednesday showcased the world’s cutting-edge killer robot technology, referred to by the defense industry as unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). These weapons ranged in size from massive armored fighting vehicles and tanks all the way down to dogs and insects.

These systems all play a role in Project Agincourt, a program that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth created to push the U.S. military into the future of autonomous warfare with an expedited timeline.

“We started with drone dominance almost the minute we got here; [the] president put out an executive order,” Hegseth said during a roundtable on autonomous weapon systems at the conference on Wednesday. “We got $1 billion of funding on drone dominance, which we put straight into the hands of operators out into the field.”

The Daily Caller News Foundation interviewed representatives from the manufacturers of some of the most promising UGVs at the event to see what makes them tick.

The largest UGV at the convention was an armored fighting vehicle called the AMPV (Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle), manufactured by BAE Systems. A BAE representative explained to the DCNF that this vehicle is a hybrid unit, designed to be fielded in both manned and unmanned configurations.

“This is an AMPV armored multi-purpose vehicle built by BAE Systems for the Army in full-rate production. So we have five variants that are already being delivered to the Army, and we’ve got over 600 of those fielded to the Army,” Bill Sheehy, the vice president of ground maneuver platforms at BAE Systems, told the DCNF. “About a year and a half ago, the Secretary of War had a big meeting with industry and said, ‘Hey, I need you guys to self-organize. I need you to self-fund and bring me solutions to today’s battlefield rapidly.’ So from that, we’ve done a number of things. One of them is the autonomous AMPV.”

Autonomous systems such as the AMPV would allow armed forces to do more work with fewer personnel.

For example, if the AMPV is needed for routine resupply missions, the vehicle can use a system of cameras, artificial intelligence and sensors developed by Forterra Autonomous Mission Systems that would allow the vehicle to operate autonomously. At the same time, the vehicle could be operated without the autonomous package to allow it to conduct offensive or defensive combat operations, similar to the Bradley armored fighting vehicle, which is currently in service with the U.S. Army.

The U.S. Army gave the order to bring two AMPVs with 30-millimeter cannons to Fort Hood, Texas, for evaluation in June, according to Sheehy. By April, the vehicles had already been delivered and have been in testing since.

“30-millimeter provides an air burst round, which allows the infantry to engage troops that are in trenches or behind walls. So that gives them that. It also has a semi-active radar on the front, which addresses the threat of drones that we see on the battlefield today,” Sheehy told the DCNF.

The AMPV fitted with the 30-millimeter autocannon recently showed the weapon was remarkably accurate. It passed gunnery qualifications with a “distinguished” ranking, the highest possible score, Sheehy told the DCNF.

These new autonomous systems are not only designed for combat. They could become the backbone of U.S. Army logistics, allowing the Army to cut down on the number of troops needed to conduct medical evacuations, resupply missions and other routine operations that need to happen on a daily basis at the front line.

General Motors (GM) Defense showcased a brand new, one-of-one prototype autonomous version of their 3500 pickup truck at the AUSA conference. The vehicle was essentially an all-wheel-drive dually GMC 3500, with the crew cab removed and completely replaced with a flatbed area that could be fitted with a mobile medical facility, cargo stowage space, radar equipment or any other use that the Army could imagine.

“The truck behind me today is the unmanned ground vehicle offering that we have. It is based on the Chevy Colorado 3500 heavy-duty dual rear wheel,” Kevin Hyneman, the director of business development for General Motors Defense, told the DCNF. “It is based on that commercially available vehicle. We’ve modified the body a little bit. It has an 8,000-pound payload capacity. It also has export energy capability with about a 100 kilowatt-hour rechargeable energy storage system to export power for powering command posts or other things on the battlefield.”

Because the new GM UGV is based on a truck that is already in production for civilian use, production could be rapidly scaled for the U.S. Army.

“I believe we produce a truck every 52 seconds,” Hyneman told the DCNF.

In a wartime scenario, a vehicle with a production rate of this scale could become the modern equivalent of the legendary Ford GPW, better known as the Jeep, which became a workhorse of the American military during World War II. More than 600,000 Jeeps were manufactured during the conflict, serving in reconnaissance, logistics, medical evacuations and frontline combat, according to the Studebaker National Museum.

The Jeep’s military legacy extended far beyond World War II. The original vehicles continued serving American troops during the Korean War, while subsequent generations fought in Vietnam and remained in U.S. military service into the 1990s, according to the Association of the United States Army.

Some of the UGVs appeared to head in a new, more modern direction, getting smaller and more aggressive. One example was the Viking UGV, a six-wheeled, all-wheel-drive robot fitted with a 30-millimeter autocannon for counter-UAS (unmanned aerial system) operations.

The Viking UGV was initially designed as a drone killer, but the 30-millimeter autocannon can be fired on ground troops as well.

“One of the things we try to do is avoid a very discrete, unique, bespoke capability that is at many times expensive,” Mike O’Leary, the vice president of advanced technology and business development at Leonardo DRS Land Systems, told the DCNF. “So giving it the ability to have a dual-purpose or multi-purpose capability, it’s great if that rocket can do air defense as well as ground defense. It’s great if I can use that cannon in a ground mission and an [air-defense] mission.”

Systems similar to the Viking UGV have already seen combat.

Ukrainian forces deployed armed ground robots as far as six miles behind Russian lines during Operation Vivaldi, using heavy aerial drones to transport the machines before unleashing them against Russian positions. The robots targeted command posts, Russian drone operators and troop concentrations, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

Deeper in the AUSA conference, the UGVs kept getting smaller. The event even showcased many systems that could be equated to robot dogs, four-legged quadrupeds that could be outfitted for several missions.

“So what we’re looking at is the TRUST 70. Trust stands for tactical robot for unmanned security tasks,” Assaf Chaprak, the president and CEO of robot manufacturer Shifters, told the DCNF. “It’s a robot we built from the ground up in-house, completely AI-native, built for rugged applications. It can go anywhere. It can do anything. It’s an open system that can carry any payload, from sensors to kinetics [weapons] and cameras and relays and everything else.”

The dog can carry up to 30 pounds and could be equipped with machine guns, anti-tank weapons or even explosives for use in suicide missions.

The robot appeared to be extremely rugged. A Shifters representative gave the dog a swift kick, flipping it over on its back; it then completely self-righted in about a second, flipping itself back over.

Different tiers of UGVs can operate in unison, creating a horrifying symbiosis of different robotic systems operating in unison. The TRUST 70 can be loaded onto wheeled UGVs similar to the Viking UGV, extending the TRUST’s range, where the robot dogs can then dismount from the vehicle and complete operations in their designated mission area.

The West is not alone in its push to develop autonomous weapon systems and UGVs. China has also been heavily investing in systems similar to the TRUST 70 robot dog, which it calls “Robot Wolves.”

“Independently developed by China, the new generation robot wolves can carry more weaponry, including micro-missile systems, grenade launchers and so on, and can switch to different types according to different missions,” according to the Chinese Ministry of National Defense. “These robot wolves have clearly defined roles, with the reconnaissance robot wolves named Shadow, the attack robot wolves named Blood, and the support robot wolves named Pole.”

The smallest UGV spotted at the AUSA convention was the Throwbot 2, a two-wheeled camera system manufactured by Recon Robotics, designed to be dropped from a drone or thrown by infantry.

The device was actually invented two decades ago in 2006, a Recon Robotics representative told the DCNF.

“The smallest, lightest, easiest to use, quickest to deploy, most environmentally hardened and rugged micro UGV in the world. It’s the Throwbot 2,” Tom Nelson, the CEO of Recon Robotics, told the DCNF. “Some people call it old reliable, but we’ve got about 2,500 systems out there with SWAT teams, federal agencies and I’ll just call it the military.”

All of these systems, from the largest tanks to the smallest wheeled cameras, comprise the array of new weapons that will be used in the event of another near-peer conflict between global powers. This doesn’t even include the massive tidal wave of small aerial drones, known by the defense industry as unmanned aerial systems, which have seen extensive use in the Russo-Ukrainian war, the Iran War and Israel’s wars throughout the Middle East, becoming a common sight on modern battlefields.

As autonomous weapons technology continues to rapidly develop, the world may soon find itself a victim of its own horrific creations, a threat that has been echoed throughout time.

“You may live to see man-made horrors beyond your comprehension,” Nikola Tesla reportedly warned during an 1898 demonstration, according to a 1947 Esquire article.

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