Armed Robots: US Lags Rhetoric, Russia

AUSA: American military leaders talk how artificial intelligence will change the face of war, but the unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) actually in development are much more modest and less lethal. They’re mostly small, mostly unarmed, and fall short not only of Pentagon visions of future warfare, but of the tank-like machines the Russians are experimenting with today.

While the US Army spent $521 million on robotics in 2017, 79 percent went to aerial drones. Only $20.6 million went to buy unmanned ground vehicles in 2017, almost all for UGVs to clear mines and roadside bombs, while $91.4 million on R&D — and 40 percent of that was for mine-clearance as well.

Read the full article in Breaking Defense.