Russia to Field Autonomous Tanks

Russia’s “Nehreta” autonomous weapons platform reportedly “outperformed” similar human-controlled vehicles, like the GAZ Tigr, in a recent test.

Following a successful round of testing on a proving ground near Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry is now prepared to roll out robot tanks it says are superior to human-controlled versions.

According to the director of the Department of Innovation Research at the Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Research Activities, Col. Oleg Pomazuev, the “Nehreta” robotic weapons platform “outperformed” manned tanks during a recent exercise at the Alabino proving grounds near Moscow. The system includes a machine gun or a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, although it is described as a “tank” in an article on a Russian military news website.

The DefenseOne blog says human-operated vehicles currently used by the Russian military include the BRDM reconnaissance vehicle, a four-axle wheeled vehicle similar to the U.S. military’s armored personnel carriers, and the GAZ Tigr, which is similar to the up-armored Humvee. Their report states the Defense Ministry has been experimenting with autonomous military equipment for several years for jobs ranging from bomb disposal to small-arms combat.

Russia does also have a semi-autonomous tank, the T-14, which features a turret that is remotely operated by a human within the vehicle. This feature allows the crew to be situated lower in the tank and away from its magazine, which is a vulnerability in most human-driven designs.

The autonomous part is the “active protection system,” which is continuously scanning the T-14’s surroundings, looking for threats. It can automatically fire to almost instantly counter those threats, including incoming anti-tank missiles.

Versions of the T-14 and Nehreta were deployed earlier this fall during the Zapad 2017 exercise in Belarus. Currently, the Russian Army still deploys T-72 and its T-90 variant, which were developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s.
Credit to Trunews

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