Will There Be Military Avatars?

[jyl]

We've all seen "Avatar". And we know the technology is already here to allow people to remotely control war-fighting machines - Predator UAVs, little tracked vehicles for IED-clearing, etc. So, when will we see more remotely-controlled fighting machines?

Suppose the next US battle tank didn't need to carry a crew, protect them from penetrating weapons, shield them from NBC, provide for their ingress/egress, could pack the punch of an Abrams in a 100 mph Humvee-sized vehicle.

Suppose the next US air superiority fighter didn't need to carry a pilot, had no human-related g-limit, didn't need the redundancy required by a human life.

Suppose the next US trooper could run 50 mph, withstand multiple bullet strikes, see with radar/infrared/amplification, carry 200 lbs of weaponry, and never require a medic - if hit badly enough, "he's" disposable, push the destruct button and boot up another one.

An "Avatar" meets "Terminator" fantasy? Or something we're working on?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jyl

Or something we're working on?

I suspect it's farther along than most folks would expect. It probably just doesn't look as cool as movies like to portray.

[Kaliv]

I would tend to think the real question should be what is the next ware going to look like? That is probably what concerns the military more than what is the next coolest device out there. Sure, the military could build that stuff, but what good would it be if it doesn't fit the battle field? Our next war could be in the jungles...which means we would need to reevaluate current tactics and resources. The next war will dictate what the military brings out of the closet...not the other way around.

[GH85Carrera]

I suspect it will happen with aircraft first. We already have unmanned aircraft that are pretty amazing. The bad guys hate them because they can't see them or hear them until they are getting a rocket exploding in the face. Obviously those drones only are useful because we own the sky. The Air Force would love to see a Taliban jet fighter. It would be destroyed faster than Sadam's Air Force.

As far as a ground based fighting suit the problem is a power supply. You never see an exhaust from suit in the movies. We need to invent the small power source that runs the suit. It will take a lot of HP to make the device useful. That means a fuel tank and a big engine. It will happen someday, but not real soon.

[Tishabet]

I doubt we will ever develop a biological "avatar" but sending a man-made creation into dangerous situations in place of the man.... absolutely. Think about drone aircraft or bomb robots today; we're well on our way.