Unmanned trucks at Fort Hood
Stars & Stripes reports that an unmanned convoy of trucks circled Fort Hood. As you can see in the video, the trucks even avoided hitting a simulated zombie who stumbled out in front of the vehicles;
The maneuvering and obstacle test in both a rural and urban environment marked a completed step for the Army and Marine Corps’ Autonomous Mobility Appliqué System, but it was not the first time the military has let a drone truck drive.
The military has been testing unmanned cargo trucks for several years in an effort to potentially save personnel from unnecessary or dangerous tasks.
The January test involved sensor and GPS technology from the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center, as well as defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin.
Category: Military issues
So who gets the trucks out when something breaks?
Call me back when one of these trucks shows up for Monday morning command maintenance, can do a PMCS on its own and fill out a 2404. Then I want to see one of these trucks sit outside the dispatch office for an hour or two waiting for the dispatch clerk to get back from where ever it is he ran off to for the morning.
Can these things change their own oil and wiper blades?
that looks pretty slick, though I do wonder what happens when haji steps in the road to stop the convoy, while his buddies plunder the cargo…..
it’d be interesting to see cross-country as well….
Am I the only one here having Maximum Overdrive flashbacks? 😉
*Puts on headphones and rocks out to AC/DC*
2, There are some types of equipment that have built in tests…. wouldn’t take much more. With the CTIS and BIT, not really much left… just need a mechanic to say ‘keep it under observation’, or ‘that’s how it’s supposed to look’, or to break something different while removing parts to fix the original problem……..
there will obviously need to be some mechanics, but I could see the 88 series fading away…. (maybe a few per convoy in case of some system breakdown)
Meh, let the Army purchase these, and many a “Lifer” will see it as more 88M’s suddenly being available for Chow hall Duty, “Area Beautification”,…
@5 Mustand2LT, you, too? Glad it wasn’t just me.
I want to see how they do in a white-out snowstorm.
OK, I watched the video, and i still say that a Troop would be necessary to have behind the wheel, even when it’s in “automatic’. First, what if someone/thing detonated an IED just strong enough to disable the “whirlybird” sensor atop the cab, or something else went wrong? One definite plus would be time saved in the Motor Pool, just program, engage, and the truck parks itself, think of the time and risk saved using Ground Guides!! On the other hand, if the 88M completes a Convoy in “Auto” sans having to touch the wheel, there’s who i’d pick for details as soon as the Convoy arrived and the real drivers dismounted, cleaned up, and slept!!
How are they going to stop an ambush and theft of either the cargo or the vehicles themselves?
Complex Urban Mission? Oh, I can hear the giggles in the staff meetings…;<)
Had not seen this as yet. Wonder how they do with backing up a 155 Howitzer?
My concerns (as a former 88M) include can they be reprogrammed en route in case a bridge is blown or obstacle placed, can they survive and recover from an ambush and can their control software be jammed or compromised? I seem to remember our drones having a little problem with control a few years ago. I would die laughing if CNN showed a convoy diverting and driving right up to an enemy designated collection point. All you 11 and 19 series don’t laugh – they’ll be coming for you next – they already have aviation on the way (K-MAX etc.):).
#2 and #6 – easy and politically/financially advantageous solution: contractors 🙂
My last and least – what happens in heavy third world traffic?
Can SkyNet be far behind?
after thinking on it a bit longer…. wonder how they do cross country…
This video shows only on-road stuff (tank trail/improved surface)…. I’m thinking you’d have to keep the a crew with the vehicle if you’re going to be doing anything besides CLP, or Logistical runs… after all maps and GPS are only so accurate, there’s always that ditch that never seems to be known about ahead of time.
I see them as an AQ and Taliban car jacker’s dream. One jumps in, one disables GPS and control device and then they are off and running with a freshly maintained rig and all its cargo.
Mustang2LT – right on point. While it’s good if it can save lives it still looks a lil freekay!
#16 OldSoldier54,
My thought exactly. SkyNet, anyone?
Bet dollars to doughnuts that they can still show up hours late to pick you up after a 10 day field problem.
Never mind Skynet. I want to see what they do on the interstate in a whiteout and in the desert in a blinding sandstorm with shifting dunes. Can they tell the difference between ice that will hold their considerable weight on a frozen lake, and ice that will cave in and sink them?
They do look good on paper, but they’re rather like an invisibility cloak for soldiers: they’re kind of silly if you can’t see your own troops.
Nice idea, easily hacked and hijacked, and there goes that multi-million dollar piece of artillery that is supposed to wipe out that Neat Norkie Nuke Nest over the next hill.
But this does give me an idea on how to create the perfect robot/puppet army: clone your soliers, plant microchips in their brains, and feed them KFC and potato wedges.
Brilliant!
I wonder how much the outfit that made that system contributed to B. Hussein 0bama’s campaign? And what would happen with them on the battlefield after say, an EMP from a nuke detonation?
A Proud Infidel – I love that what-if, the EMP. Often misunderstood and way under planned for little chestnut. Needless to say we’d be f*ck-ohed. There was a high altitude nuke test in the upper atmosphere (ionosphere) I believe in the ’60s near one of the atolls of the South Pacific. Knocked lights out in Hawai’i. News was pretty quiet about the coincidence due to pressure from some government agency. Heck, there’s an old map from the Civil Defence showing the theoretical loss of grid capability due to a low detonation (anti infrastructure attack). Imagine a nuke set up for maximum EMP effects setoff in just the right place. Local Stone Age. I had some egghead try to tell me that most equipment these days is protected. Sheeet, there’s been times of large solar flares where satellite comma is degraded. I love tech, the Strykers are full of it, maybe too much. The basics still need to be taught. They’re cheap to teach, good building blocks, and when an EMP f*cks your sh*t up, well….
@Roh-dog, EEEEEYUP!! I remember when I was just another meatheaded college freeman in ROTC class back in *COUGH!* and my Professor, a Vietnam Vet, mentioned about how the Soviets could cripple NATO Forces near the Berlin Wall via a 5KT nuke detonation high enough in the atmosphere to where it wouldn’t hurt people, buildings, etc, and the EMP would KO communications and power. Our enemies still plan that kind of stuff, I don’t care WHAT the “experts” say!
OH, and some “experts” say that an aluminum casing will protect electronics from an EMP, but hey, all of our equipment IS made by the lowest bidder, ain’t it?
“Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.”