DARPA’s Robot Tank Moves Closer To Combat Duty

While not technically a tank, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s new Robotic Autonomy in Complex Environments with Resiliency (RACER) Heavy Platform has been demonstrated in Phase 2. The prototype robot is still far from ready for combat action, but with its growing capabilities to navigate complex, varying off-road environments, it might not be long before that happens.

Learn about the most famous tank rampages.

Some people are still catching up with the fact drones have become a key component not just in surveillance and scouting but also direct combat in the Ukraine War. But a large treaded vehicle, possibly with a heavy gun and other weaponry, driving through a battlefield without a single person inside is almost too much to process.

One of the big questions people seemed to have was why a vehicle that’s painted to blend in with the environment had glowing turquoise lights. For those who don’t know, autonomous vehicles or AVs traditionally have those lights so when it’s driving without human input everyone around it knows.

Obviously, by the time these are used in warfare, such lights won’t be illuminated.

The bigger questions should be something along the lines of how does DARPA and others working on robotic fighting machines ensure these won’t engage in friendly fire? Or murder innocent civilians? Do they recognize surrendering enemy combatants? How much redundancy is equipped in the system since there are no humans present to make battlefield repairs?

And the big one: is it moral to use robots to kill other humans in a war?

At the same site in Texas, back sometime in late 2023, DARPA ran other AVs through the off-road course. It shared onboard video from what looks to be a side-by-side running the RACER technology for the fourth experiment.

The company says during these tests the AVs successfully completed over 30 runs on the course, which were between 3 and 10 miles long, at speeds up to 30 mph. In the end, they racked up over 150 fully autonomous miles of driving.

Welcome to the future of warfare, coming to a battlefield (hopefully not near you) soon.

Image via DARPAtv/YouTube