infantry support robots

an issue that has come up on 2 recent threads is providing mobile infantry with crew served weapon for assault support / air defence and AT capacity , esp in FIBUA situations where a static weapon would be left behind too rapidly

one possible solution - robotic weapon carriers , under command of the assistant section leader [ lance corporal ]

this is not entirely my idea - i read the idea on a blog some where - now i cannot find it so have expanded it here with my own ideas

rather than a mech or APC sized behemoth , what about something approaching the size of the " wheelbarrow" EOD system

low and long - to reduce its profile to the enemy



the requirement is simply , at least on paper :

provide assault troops with a crew served weapon that will stay at the spearhead

by this i mean , a 20mm canon or the 30mm ASP canon , AGL or breach loading motar , rapid fire GPMG [ water cooled ?] with LOTS of ammo

also - spare payload to carry water , medical supplies , ammo for the section it is supporting

other nifty ` addons ` :

smoke generator - and dischargers

sheild - to cover advancing troops . block a sniper aim , cover a casualty whilke the medic does his thing

fold out litter - to evacuate a casualty

mine clearance capacity - at least immunity to AP mines and claymores

sensors , thermal and possibly siesmic / MAD to locate troops / AFV movement

ESM / sigint ?

hostile fire sensors to detect lasers designators [ fire smoke automatically ]

or snipers - tell the section where to hose - or even auto resond with a grenade or canon burst

i realise that many of these could be carried by the troops - but any thing that gets the riflemans battle order down is a good thing in my book

the biggest stumbling block at the moment is power source

petrol or diesil engines have the power and weight you need - militarised you can run it as a ` multi fuel ` so rustlng up an extra gallon in the feild is always a posibility




the down side is of course a thermal and acoustic signiture that stands out a mile even with a silenced housing

no other power pack IMHO has the energy density and or endurance

batteries : too heavy and field recharge too slow

fuel cell - cost and fuel scarcity

solar - not enough power - dont work at night etc

others ?????????????


hybrid ICE / electric would preovide a partial solution - run the engine for sprints / assaults and movement in ` safe ` areas and then switch to battery for silent running

thats all for now , what ya all think ?

YRS - APE

Anyone?

The EOD bots always remind me of that movie.

this is funny I made a similar thread but because It was asking about mecha it got moved to chit chat area..... grrrffff..... well we will see if the good old modarator is fair and move this one there as well.

guess he is a fair guy after all 8) 2 to him

Electric power? And they'd be quick, no need for a shield.