A Russian defence firm have been commissioned to produce an army of new “combat robots” within the next 2 years.
Uralvagonzavod, the company that introduced the ‘super tank’ Armata T-14, is eager to develop artificial intelligence for the armed forces in Russia, claiming that they will be able to showcase prototypes in the next 1.5 to 2 years.
Rt.com reports:
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Engineers envisioned T-14 tank ‘robotization’ as they created Armata platform http://t.co/oFqhzUY6YJ pic.twitter.com/nLtZRiFPqg
— RT (@RT_com) June 1, 2015
As an example, he noted that the Armata now requires three crew members. “Then it will be two and then without them at all,” Khalitov said.
New Russian T-14 #Armata tank grinds to a halt on Red Square http://t.co/ISyiq5Yfeo pic.twitter.com/C3Pmbqw0BU — RT (@RT_com) May 7, 2015
The trends in robotic engineering worldwide are about the same, he said. It all starts off with remote control technologies and, after that, artificial intelligence might be introduced. Uralvagonzavod is following the same pattern.
Khalitov reassured that it’s too early to be afraid of the war of the machines since the whole idea will be under development for decades to come. However, the experience promises to be transformative for the industry, he said.
The T-14 tank is based on an Armata armored platform and capable of dealing with any challenges posed by the 21st century. The Russian military marvel was presented by the Defense Ministry at the May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow. The tank has attracted a number of “serious potential buyers from Arab countries,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said.
With an armored capsule for the three-man crew, the tank is notable for having an unmanned turret equipped with fully remotely controlled 125mm smoothbore cannon and 7.62mm machine gun.
‘We need World of Tanks gamers to operate robot tanks’ – Russia’s weapons chief http://t.co/1XQHQaW0LM pic.twitter.com/r2QedznaLU
— RT (@RT_com) October 13, 2015
Earlier, Uralvagonzavod revealed its plans to make a remote-controlled tank in the near future. The news was welcomed by Rogozin, who joked that the military would soon need people experienced in the computer game ‘World of Tanks’.
“We need no tankers now, we need World of Tanks players,” Rogozin tweeted.