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IDF magazine: Wounded soldiers will soon be evacuated by unmanned vehicles
An Israel Defense Forces magazine recently reported that Israel was developing an unmanned vehicle that would evacuate wounded soldiers from the battlefield. The soldiers' weekly Bamahaneh reported in its latest issue that development is in the early stages. The article carried a picture of a flat, tank-like vehicle. It added that the vehicle could be guided from afar, possibly using GPS satellite technology. It would ferry wounded soldiers back to field hospitals for treatment. According to the article, the new technology would reduce the risk to medics treating wounded soldiers in the battlefield while under fire. The weekly magazine reported that development is in a preliminary stage and that deployment is still far off, adding that an unmanned aircraft to be used to evacuate wounded soldiers was also being considered for development. Another recent IDF development is the Guardium ? a robotic soldier that can see at night, never nods off on sentry duty and can carry 300 kilograms (660 pounds) without complaining. The unmanned ground vehicle, commissioned by the IDF, is essentially a robotic soldier, among the first in the world to be operational. It can replace human soldiers in dangerous roles, cutting casualty rates. Like the pilotless drones that have become a mainstay of air forces in Israel, the U.S. and elsewhere, the four-wheeled Guardium is operated from a command room that can be far from the front line. It can be mounted with cameras, night-vision equipment and sensors, as well as machine guns. Following pre-programmed routes, it can navigate alone through cities - the vehicle knows how to deal with intersections, traffic and road markings. It can patrol borders, its cameras scanning 360 degrees at all times, and alert operators if it spots anything suspicious. Posted by: Fred 2008-08-20 |
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