Atchisson Assault-12 + Robotex = Crazy

Let’s follow up a bit on the Atchisson Assault 12 post and take it to the next step, which is where it’s inevitably going. Welcome to the world of Robotex, a Silicon Valley start-up that’s combining engineering skills and new weapon technologies to bring forth a new generation of robo-soldiers. Their site lists their two products as “Infantry Replacement Robots (IRR)” and “Robotic Force Multipliers for Early-Entry Forces.” Their model MH robot is but 2′ tall, travels 10 miles per hour and is fully remote controlled over an encrypted frequency that jams radios and cell phones. It’ll blow a 10″ hole through a steel door from 400 meters away.

They’re now working on an AH model that’ll be topped with TWO Atchisson Assault-12 shotguns. Jerry Baber of Military Police Systems, Inc. states, “It [the Atchisson] delivers the lead equivalent of 132 M16s. When they start firing from every direction, it’s all over.” . . . woah

And the AA-12 is versatile. Along with firing ridiculously powerful FRAG-12 ammo – a straight-out-of-Terminator shell that contains a whirling miniature grenade – the AA-12 can handle non-lethal Tasers and even bullets that are deadly up to 120 feet but fall harmlessly by 800 feet.

Limited-range bullets are important in urban combat situations, Baber explains, because once an insurgent gets between the robot and a soldier operating it on the ground, the bot is rendered useless – unless the soldier wants to shoot at himself.

Baber has paired the AH and its smaller sibling, the MH, with a remote-control mini-helicopter called AutoCopter, which holds two AA-12s and can carry the bots into battle. His plan is to buy the robots from Robotex and the helicopters from Neural Robotics in Huntsville, Ala. Then he’s going to arm them, resell the systems, and split the profits.

News source is here for full story and pics. One can begin to understand why the Atchisson’s design (still fires even if sand is poured through it) is important. Mounting these things on robots and mini-choppers is bound to get them dirty.

Some of you may have heard of the Talon robot that the U.S. military is currently using, but these new bots are more advanced and are a fraction of the cost (think $50,000 instead of $300,000!).

We’re quickly moving toward further reliance on technical warfare. This brings great advantages AND great disadvantages. It’d be hard to imagine how largely unorganized, untrained insurgents would try to combat these warrior-bots, but with some countries, I wonder what surprises they’d have in store during a war for our increasingly TECHNOLOGICALLY DEPENDENT country. China is already working very hard at developing mechanisms to disable satellite communication systems, which would devastate the U.S. military’s ability to function at full capacity during a conflict.

Welcome to the future.

“Run! The ‘bots are coming! The ‘bots are coming!”

– Ranger Man