The folks over at Neural Robotics Inc. seemed to be making a fine little business for themselves, building autonomous mini-helicopters for surveillance, traffic monitoring, and movie shoots.
But let’s face it: there’s only so long you can let your robots stand on the veritable sidelines. After a while, you want ‘em to get in on the action. That’s why, presumably, NRI has started to trick out its “AutoCopters” with 12-gauge, fully-automatic shotguns.
The weapons work with anything from 18-Cal. BBs to armor-piercing, FRAG-12 rounds, according to Defense Review. Which turns the AutoCopter “into an incredibly lethal unmanned combat air vehicle.”
Previously relegated to ‘convoy escort,’ the AutoCopter can now be tasked with convoy security/force protection. This constitutes a significant leap in mission capability, and it has the potential to be a significant force multiplier in multiple combat environments.
And it sounds like a much more fun job, besides.
Other robo-copter tinkerers are trying to give their machines some teeth. Boeing is working to fit Gatling guns and Hellfire missiles onto its “Unmanned Little Bird” chopper. The Army recently morphed a UH-1 Huey into a robotic, missile-firing model. Meanwhile, Japanese authorities are worried that Yamaha’s pint-sized robo-copters might be making their way to China, where the drones could be equipped with chemical arms. Bummer.
(Big ups: Scott @ Sploid)
Good Morning Folks,
Wasn’t this a 70’s TV series?
ALLONS,
Byron Skinner
So I guess we don’t need a Vice President any more.
I love it! I think we need more deadly robots out there…
R2K
I am still upset over the yet un-released toy crop dusters with weapon grade an trax
Damn it… Some one knew about Defense Review over here.
By the way, has any one attempted to download the video of that was linked on Defense Review, getting problems? I noticed this article yesterday before it was one Defense Tech, and I had trouble downloading this damn large file. First, it was provided directly as http://www.defensereview.com/stories/aa-12/AutoCopter_Gunship.mpg, then the article was revised (if you knew this on Defense Tech, you have not noticed the changes of the article), and the file was placed on FTP server. I planned to download it by Free Download Manager, something like the Download Accelerator Plus, but it didn’t do the job for FTP so I had to dowload it manually and it took so much time that I had to quit, thinking something went wrong. The previous link also didn’t work, maybe because it was already removed by that time.
Nevermind, it just take tens of minutes and hours to download something more than 20MB.
I, for one, welcome our new robotic overlords.
Oh joy,a twelve gauge pack’n RC Robo-copter,oh the fun one could have with this deadly new toy.Love to see the expression on whats left of some al qaeda operatives face,when,while busily cobbling together a bomb belt for his send off to the after-life,the wretched piece of human debri happens to hear a funny buzzing noise outside the window of his chic and trendy freedom fighters hovel.He sticks his head out to investigate,only to be greeted by a face full of number 4 buckshot,top-o-the mornin to ya guvnah!!
BOOM!!!Courtacy of robo-copter.Damn i love this
stuff.
Somewhere, Isaac Asimov is weeping. So much for the Three Laws. I track a lot of this stuff, and it’s fun, but you sometimes wish the coolest tech wasn’t always in the killing machines.
Looks more like a terrorist weapon than a counter-terrorist weapon to me. Imagine what one of thse would do in a busy street or a sports stadium.
I would prefer a IED sensor package in these things: we need it much more than a close-range shotgun. Or maybe put a .308 in it, put up a chopper after an ambush and snipe targets as they flee…
in response to charles comment about mounting a .308 in it and sniping targets, its not a bad idea. the uav would require a FLIR mount so that sniping would be possible… however I think about the recoil of such weapon and the ammount of time it would take for the operator to correct for such recoil, and sight in on another tango. By my estimate it might allow for 1 shot per 5 sec… but im not educated in the operation of these machines. my thought is that if the rate of fire is such, i wonder about the odds of it being shot down via rpg and in such two Consequences. 1) the cost of not only the uav, but also the FLIR, and the mounted weapon. and 2) recovery of such uav by hostile forces.
Aside from the sniping potential, I primarily think of its use in urban warfare and its potential to clear buildings and houses. I have gone through a couple of operations like such and i remember how it felt clearing ladderwells, and narrow halls with multiple doors, windows, and entrance ways, Talk about stress. Then i think about how effective it might be to have an armed robo-copter clear those ladderwells, and to have it maintain a foreward security in the hallway as you breach and secure each individual room. I dont trust its effectiveness in clearing a room as compared to my fellow marines… but im sure it can sure as hell make things alot easier in scouting ahead of us and eliminating hostiles waiting at the top of the stairs, or at the end of the hall.