The US Army’s new Stryker vehicle is seen as the foundation for a mobile, lethal American warfighting force of the 21st century. Stryker has eight wheels, weighs 38,000 pounds, goes 60 MPH, and can be configured to undertake a variety of missions. The initial production run of 2,000+ vehicles are just now starting to roll off the assembly line. One of the first versions of Stryker produced has been an unmanned, autonomous version that packs a very lethal punch with its onboard Javelin anti-tank missiles. These killer robots get to their pre-set destination by relying on an array of sophisticated sensors, infrared cameras and images gathered by satellites, all of which are updated by a high-powered computerized mission planner 10 times a second. No continuous remote control link with a human operator exists. It can detect enemy targets two to three kilometers away and – once it receives the go-ahead from a remote commander – can launch its powerful Javelin by itself. The U.S. Army plans extensive tests at its Fort Bliss, Texas, facility next month of the robotic Strykers. The tests will culminate with a live firing exercise in March in which the robotic Strykers will identify enemy targets and fire their Javelin missiles. Currently, the Army plans to begin fielding armed autonomous robotic vehicles based on the Stryker as early as 2008.

“Where this is all leading is the ability to replace men in the military in what they call the dirty, dangerous and dull missions,” said Scott Myers, vice president of Eagle Enterprise, the General Dynamics division that is developing the robotic Stryker. Eagle has received an initial $7.5 million to develop other military robotic platforms: a small individual soldier support system to help clear inside buildings; a squad level support vehicle to help transport loads and handle sustainment requirements; and a larger vehicle with both direct and indirect fire capabilities. The robotic systems are joined by two different size classes of unmanned aerial vehicles in the baseline concept.