SWORDS

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SWORDS combat robots

SWORDS ( Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection System ) is a remotely controlled armed robotic system on a TALON chassis, a robot for defusing explosive charges.

development

The American group Foster-Miller Inc. developed remote-controlled robotic systems for the recovery of explosive bodies with the British Defense Research Institute (DERA), today both part of the QinetiQ group . The most important model is a “TALON” tracked vehicle for multi-purpose tasks.

Due to the high losses in the Iraq war , a variant of the TALON was developed for the US military as a combat robot , which has already been used several times. The weapon system, which cost around $ 200,000, was named SWORDS.

properties

The combat robot can optionally be equipped with a 5.56 or 7.62 millimeter machine gun M249 SAW / M240, among others. In the 2000s, additional weapons, such as anti-tank missiles, were being tested for the system, including a high-speed grenade launcher from Metal Storm .

In addition to the weapon systems, various camera and other reconnaissance systems such as X-ray devices, GPS , but also warfare agent detection devices are used.

The vehicle can be controlled either by optical fiber (cable) or by radio via a suitcase-sized station using a joystick.

Depending on the control system, the range of application is between 300 m and 1200 m, with the lithium-ion batteries of the main drive enabling use of up to four hours (at constant top speed). Control and equipment are kept in operation by an additional battery for up to eight hours (depending on the mission). The maximum speed is around 6 km / h.

Incidents and decommissioning

The SWORDS robots were decommissioned in April 2008 by the US Department of Defense. After the weapon arm had rotated in several incidents, although this was not intended in the respective situation, the robots were classified as unsafe for the time being and the field operation was canceled. Nobody was injured in the incidents.

See also

credentials

  1. ↑ David Ax: Killer Ground 'Bots Out of Iraq: How Come? In: Wired.com. April 10, 2008, accessed January 15, 2017 .

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