Jump to content

British Army Robot Wars


LarryH57

Recommended Posts

RARDE Chertsey developed a radio controlled Chieftain back in the late 80s/early 90s.

Known as Crazy Horse, the Chieftain was controlled from a Spartan APC. It did need an operator, and was remote control rather than autonomous. If memory serves me well it did feature in a TV program at the time...but cannot remember the details.

Apparently its in storage now at the Tank Museum down in Bovington.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, johann morris said:

God help us if there was ever a war, the MOD wastes money like water. In a major war the army with biggest battalions and most tanks will win.  

Aye. MoD can't project manage anything - just look at the FRES/Scout debacle......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, SimonBrown said:

Known as Crazy Horse, the Chieftain was controlled from a Spartan APC. It did need an operator, and was remote control rather than autonomous. If memory serves me well it did feature in a TV program at the time...but cannot remember the details.

It was used as a training aid, not as a fighting vehicle.

Text in original Preserved Tanks In Britain  (http://preservedtanks.com/Profile.aspx?UniqueID=2022 ) publication:

Project Crazy Horse was initiated in 1987 to provide a manoeuvrable hard target for guided missile operators firing inert anti-tank rounds. 00EB33 was originally in service with the RAC Training Regiment at Catterick which was converted into a radio controlled target tank by RARDE Chertsey. The conversion involved removing the gun, ammunition stowage, radios and NBC system and then fitting hydraulic extensions to the driver’s steering controls that could be worked by a driver situated low down in the centre of the tank using a colour TV link to see outside. A very reduced fuel tank was also fitted to reduce the risk of the tank running away. On the firing range the driver would leave and operate the tank from a mobile command centre based in a modified Alvis Stormer control vehicle. Trials at Shoeburyness revealed that the tank could be controlled at a range of up to 6 km, the remote driver using a link to the tank’s camera equipment. The radio control equipment was supplied by the Skyleader company based on its model aircraft products. (Source: Museum Vehicle Record).
This Chieftain was built as a Mark 1 by Vickers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, MatchFuzee said:

Project Crazy Horse was initiated in 1987 to provide a manoeuvrable hard target for guided missile operators firing inert anti-tank rounds. 00EB33 was originally in service with the RAC Training Regiment at Catterick which was converted into a radio controlled target tank by RARDE Chertsey. The conversion involved removing the gun, ammunition stowage, radios and NBC system and then fitting hydraulic extensions to the driver’s steering controls that could be worked by a driver situated low down in the centre of the tank using a colour TV link to see outside. A very reduced fuel tank was also fitted to reduce the risk of the tank running away. On the firing range the driver would leave and operate the tank from a mobile command centre based in a modified Alvis Stormer control vehicle. Trials at Shoeburyness revealed that the tank could be controlled at a range of up to 6 km, the remote driver using a link to the tank’s camera equipment. The radio control equipment was supplied by the Skyleader company based on its model aircraft products. (Source: Museum Vehicle Record).
This Chieftain was built as a Mark 1 by Vickers.

Now that did bring back a few memories. Spent a few weeks in the summer covering Crazy Horse as it was used to conduct trials on how much delay an operator could cope with on the TV signal. Thanks for the reminder.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 'robots' are from a company in Estonia which is linked to QinetiQ North America, a concern that took over the UK's military research and development agency, which we knew of from various titles over the years, such as MVEE, RARDE.

Here is a link for more info:  https://qinetiq-na.com/products/unmanned-systems/titan/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

check out boston dynamics' Atlas.

bear in mind this is an old 2018 robot video that was released officially into the public domain

consider this company has almost unlimited US military funding, then think what they're not showing you.

frightening? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes add face recognition in to that and off we go!! it could be done now, there is a rumour that its not that reliable yet though. haha. I would not want to go up against a Reaper or a Autonomous Apache or some such. Some may say its a waste of money, but as they say, "he who has the most toys wins"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, LarryH57 said:

In any future conflict it would be technically possible to have a line of robot sentries, darlek like, placed in line and in depth to shoot at anything with the correct heat, shape or movement profile until the ammo ran out

Until the ammo runs out and who will pay for the robots when cannon fodder is readily available at very little cost and as in life, eventually he who has the most toys dies. In ww2 the Germans had the most advanced conventional toys but the Russians had the most tanks and lots of human fodder that they didn't mind expending. Technology is all well and good and exciting but costs, I wonder how many T72 you could buy for 1 challenger.

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Si-Fi seem to predict the future in quite a scary way haha. and on the other point, tech is interesting and expensive, and I don't think these days we can convince the population to be cannon fodder, the army can't recruit enough now even with our massively reduced requirement. I run machines and I can run 4 with 1 man, be nice to be back employing more, but people don't want to do the work, its the tech that's kept us in the game. it will be the same for the military. sad but true. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I was thinking regarding my 'chain gun armed darlek sentries' is to allow real soldiers to be used more effectively. No gadget is a complete sucess in war, but at least it could block an approach or warn of intruders.

Robot sentries could be used to watch our coast line for 'boat people' or drug runners landing at night and alert the authorities, rather than shoot first. Properly equipped, such robots could 'see' at night or in fog 24/7 and be better than those volunteer cliff top watchers used by HMCG, who have to go home sometime. So they would be CCTV Plus - the plus being the ability to kill, fire flares, illuminate anything with white light, provide warnings and target acquisition to others. The more you build the cheaper they get!

Something the East Germans or Albanian Government of old would have spent their entire wealth on if they had only known!

Edited by LarryH57
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Equally I could also start a thread called Navy Robot Wars, as its already in progress to have unmanned subs to carry out various tasks from reconnaisance, mining someone elses harbour mouth, firing cruise missiles apart from the usual torpedo attacks. The most worrying is the potential  for  a robot / drone nuclear sub to closely follow a Polaris sub, closer than an ex-partner or stalker, just waiting and watching for the right moment to explode. Thats why the Government needs to get some serious advice before spending £50 Billion on a Polaris  replacement, as such a replacement might be as effective as a Zeppellin in the 1940 Battle of Britain

Edited by LarryH57
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎1‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 1:32 PM, LarryH57 said:

the plus being the ability to kill,

Isaac Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics.

  1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
  2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
  3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...