More than 20 new types of robots are being developed in Russia that will someday be put to use in life-threatening situations, including in space and on the battlefield, Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper wrote. A prime example of this forward-looking effort is the Uran-9 tracked unmanned combat ground vehicle, which is being developed and produced by Rostec for the international market.

According to a release by Rosoboronexport, the system will provide combat, reconnaissance and counter-terrorism units with remote reconnaissance and fire support. Of no less interest are the all-new Platforma-M and Strelok combat robots whose powerful armament and modular construction makes them indispensable during counterterrorism operations.

The multipurpose combat robot Nerehta, whose field trials are slated for later this year, is designed on a modular scheme and can be used with equal success both for reconnaissance and patrol missions, as well as in real combat situations. It is armed with 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm machineguns and will eventually carry a more powerful machine gun to be created expressly for Nerekhta fighting robot.

Nuclear scientists from Sarov have also joined the effort designing an acoustic system which "listens" to the sound of an incoming bullet to pinpoint the exact place where the bullet came from.

During last year's RAE military expo in Nizhny Tagil the organizers unveiled a wide array of futuristic robots, such as an unmanned reconnaissance helicopter, a tracked robot armed with missiles and machine guns.

The robotic chopper acquired the target and downloaded its coordinates to the automated control center. The data was subsequently sent to the tracked robot, which then found the target and decided exactly which of its weapons was best suited to destroy it.

In another first, a single soldier will soon be able to stand up to an entire tank armada. If he sees the target he can destroy himself, he simply pulls the trigger. If the target is too big and too far, he punches a button and a column of tanks is destroyed by artillery or missile fire.

Information from individual soldiers and observation units will be sent to a computer that will quickly process the incoming data and decide which weapon is best suited to destroy the target. If this system of "network" combat becomes a reality, a mechanized infantry battalion could be downsized to just fifty men from several hundred now.

Source: Sputnik News