The massive robotic mule developed by Alphabet-owned Boston Dynamics won’t see combat with U.S. Marines.
LS3 (Legged Squad Support Systems) was meant to carry cargo for weary soldiers in the field. Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, the robot was capable of walking with 400 pounds of equipment on its back.
LS3 could run for 24 hours straight on a 20-mile mission across rough terrain. No controller was needed; it took visual and verbal cues from soldiers to find its way.
So why doesn’t the Marine Corps want to use it? The robot’s gas-powered engine isn’t exactly the stealthiest piece of technology.
“As Marines were using it, there was the challenge of seeing the potential possibility because of the limitations of the robot itself,” Kyle Olson, a spokesman for the Warfighting Lab, told Military.com. “They took it as it was: a loud robot that’s going to give away their position.”
That doesn’t mean the Marine Corps is done using robots. A spokesperson from the Marines’ Warfighting Lab told NBC News that LS3 was a “waypoint along a path of discovery and development” toward unmanned systems that could “lighten the load” for soldiers in the future.
“The Marine Corps isn’t looking for a fair fight,” the spokesman added, noting that the Marine Corps recognizes “the necessity of autonomous, unmanned, and robotic capabilities” to gain a “tactical edge through technological overmatch.”
http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/robot-mule-put-out-pasture-marine-corps-n487316
I’d always been skeptical of that machine due to the racket its engine makes, among other issues it has.
*** “The Marine Corps isn’t looking for a fair fight,” the spokesman added, noting that the Marine Corps recognizes “the necessity of autonomous, unmanned, and robotic capabilities” to gain a “tactical edge through technological overmatch.” ***
Yet they smear as “cowards” those foreigners who use snipers and IEDs to defend against US occupation. Hmmm…
Besides, how much more “technological overmatch” will they need before they’ll be able to defeat opponents like the Taliban? Maybe a lack of technology and sophisticated gear isn’t the US military’s problem? LOL
Can you imagine the casualties US Imperial Troops would take if they had to fight with equal weaponry and gear against the Taliban? No air support, no drones for ISR, no armored vehicles, no body armor, no modern rifles, no modern communications… Obviously the Taliban would annihilate them. The US military of today is not that of our grandparents.
If an enemy force were invading the US, it would not be cowardly to use any means possible, fair and unfair, to expel that force. The question of fair play would not arise, as the fight would be a matter of survival. However, he who SEEKS OUT an unnecessary fight with someone much weaker than himself IS cowardly — just like the US war machine today.
The guerrillas that are the US war machine’s enemy of choice may be distasteful on some levels, but they also have incredible balls, cunning, resilience, and determination. These are traits we should all nurture in ourselves, as we may one day be in the same situation those foreigners are in.
Here’s Ronald Reagan in 1983:
“To watch the courageous Afghan freedom fighters battle modern arsenals with simple hand-held weapons is an inspiration to those who love freedom.”