Interesting, I have the option to mount one on my back as well. Unfortunately, I probably can’t run as long or as fast as these things.
Wow, that looks absolutely terrifying. Also, they got the S.W.O.R.D. logo all wrong.
SWORD isn’t an “assault rifle”, but whatever.
Also the term “assault rifle” is bad, and I really wish people would stop using it. Literally the term was made up by Hitler as propaganda for the concept of an evolution to the service rifle - that being a rifle that replaces both the submachine gun and the battle rifle by pairing the bullet diameter of the battle rifle with an intermediate case length that’s smaller than the battle rifle’s while being select-fire and shorter than a usual rifle of the time - then was popularized by the media before NATO started using the term themselves, and now the term is the only name most people know the concept as. The term is legitimately just to make this evolution in service rifles sound scarier.
S.W.O.R.D. is an unmanned weapon system that’s chambered in either 6.5 Creedmore or 7.62 NATO, both are full-length cartridges you would expect to find used by battle rifles. Though, it’s important to note that the 6.5 is commonly used as a hunting caliber and was designed for that, while 7.62 NATO was designed by the Americans specifically to be a replacement to .30-06. That’s the first strike off against it being an “assault rifle”, but we shouldn’t get into the pedantics of all the other points, when the realistic usability of this system is much more important.
As far as it matters, this can only effectively be a media stunt. This still has many trials to go through, and it will require an entirely new MOS to be formed - Spot Operator (or some shit) - as the military won’t get away with automating its functions. That would be a media nightmare for them. Also, they’re not going to use it to replace human beings on the battlefield. If Spot finds his way into war, they’ll be used to supplement fighting forces… though more likely than not, the military will continue on the path they’ve already chosen for Spot. Carrying a portion of the soldier’s combat load and scouting
Robotic warfare (and for that matter, robots having any real advantages over humans, other than being cheaper than humans) is still very far in the future, and the media is just going to keep using every little development to try to scare people against progress… which I say as a soft-Luddite, terrified of automation. Don’t let the media scare people into believing the T-70 Hunter-Killer is the inevitable future.
Pretty sure that Spot with guns is far more likely to find its way to the coming food riots than a war.
This solution is a bit preposterous. Why not just put wheels on it, or tracks? Think about all the more practical embodiments, which we’re not hearing about.
I’m sure the best tool for future urban conflict must be floating drones, equiped with grenades or toxic chemicals. It’s really strange that we’re hearing all about research into silly stuff and not into the obvious stuff. Maybe it will be kept secret as long as possible then released suddenly when the conflict reached a peak.
Different kinds of bots aren’t mutually exclusive. Each one has its own set of pros and cons. Walking bot can easily get past things like barricades, go into buildings, and so on.
I think for going into buildings, they’ll be using soldiers for the forseeable future. A walking or flying bot that can go up stairs and open doors is still a long way off. Though IMO today’s flying bots are much higher performing.
It’s already happening right now.
doors though. most building have many internal doors.
i can see a situation where they can accompany soldiers on indoor raids. the soldiers act like bodyguards to enable the drone to progress through the building
Yeah, robots will most likely be used as supplemental to humans. It’s also worth noting that quadruped robots from Boston Dynamics are able to navigate on their own and open doors already. It’s not a huge stretch to imagine putting weapons on them.
Good info. And agree the media will always hype and blur the lines
Though i think it’s perhaps a little optimistic to think this kind of thing won’t inevitably contribute to the looming scifi dystopian future, including deployment outside the conventional battlefield…
S.W.O.R.D. is an unmanned weapon system that’s chambered in either …
Is SWORD the gun they have a picture of in the article? Or is it something else? Maybe built on top of guns? Just wondering how unmanned fits in here.
Reminds me of this Black Mirror episode: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metalhead_(Black_Mirror)
when life imitates art
