U.S. High Tech Battle Equipment (moved from ATSNN), page 1

Ever since our government began the WOT, army officials have looked for a way to minimize casualties in the battlefield. They have engineered a small line of robot surveillance vehicles with a price tag of about $US8,000 a piece. Their main purpose is to scout ahead on roads, buildings and provide aerial reconnaissance. So far only 30 of these units have been deployed throughout Iraq and Afghanistan but there are plans to order a few hundred more in the next six months

www.abc.net.au
Bomb seeking robots, spy planes and a handheld device that translates a soldier's English commands or questions into Arabic are some of the high-tech battlefield equipment developed for use by US forces in Iraq.

Colonel Gregory Tubbs, who heads an army program that looks for relatively quick technological fixes for problems arising in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, showed off a number of items at a Pentagon press conference.

Other technology includes surveillance cameras that can be deployed on blimps and towers; a light weight metal detector for finding weapons caches and jammers.

The US Army has also deployed about 30 robots with troops in Iraq to scout out suspected roadside bombs, and has placed orders for several hundred more.

'To me, it's a lot like an Easter Egg hunt: If you have more Easter egg hunters, you'll find more Easter eggs,' said Col Tubbs.

The Marcbot robot is a small, wheeled vehicle that carries a camera atop an arm that can be manipulated by remote control from several hundred feet away.

They used only to visually identify mines or improvised explosives concealed animal carcasses, or plastic bags, but not to dispose of them.

'There's 30 out there now,' Col Tubbs said.

'I'm in the process, in the next probably six months, of putting another couple of hundred in the field.'

He said several hundred were on order at $US8,000 apiece.

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I feel this is a great addition to our arsenal. Our biggest Allie in many of the wars we've fought has been reconnaissance. The more we see ahead of us, the more we can prepare and counter attack.

These unmanned units, when used correctly, will greatly minimize casualties in the conflict. I have been waiting for more ideas like these to be utilized into our military for quite some time. Hopefully this testing period proves these units 'sea worthy' and our government shifts spending to develop more of these types of unmanned weaponry.

Slightly amusing in a dark way, Col Tubbs stating that finding IEDs is a lot like an Easter Egg hunt. Makes you wonder what Easter was like at his house.