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Israeli Robots Remake Battlefield

(Wall Street Journal) Charles Levinson - Sixty years of near-constant war, a low tolerance for enduring casualties in conflict, and its high-tech industry have made Israel one of the world's leading innovators of military robotics. "The Israelis do it differently, not because they're more clever than we are, but because they live in a tough neighborhood and need to respond fast to operational issues," says U.S. Army Lt.-Col. (ret.) Thomas Tate, who now oversees defense cooperation between the U.S. and Israel. Among recently deployed Israeli technologies is the Guardium unmanned ground vehicle, deployed along the Gaza and Lebanese borders to patrol for infiltrators. The Guardium is essentially an armored off-road golf cart with a suite of optical sensors and surveillance gear. Within the next year, Israeli engineers expect to deploy the voice-commanded, six-wheeled Rex robot, capable of carrying 550 pounds of gear alongside advancing infantry. After bomb-laden fishing boats tried to take out an Israeli Navy frigate off the coast of Gaza in 2002, Israel designed the Protector SV, an unmanned, heavily armed speedboat. Military analysts say unmanned fighting vehicles will minimize the advantages of guerrilla opponents who display increased willingness to sacrifice their lives in order to inflict casualties on the enemy.
2010-01-12 09:50:36
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