

We now know that there are robotic cars smart enough to drive themselves around a city. The next step: give those vehicles automatic weapons, of course. Enter the Black Knight – a *very *early prototype of an "Unmanned Combat Vehicle," developed by arms-maker BAE Systems for the U.S. Army. From the outside, the Knight doesn't look all that different from the armored vehicles used by the American military in combat zones around the world. But soldiers can also get out of the nine-and-a-half-ton Knight, and control the vehicle from afar – including a custom, one-off 30mm gun and coaxial machine gun.

Or the troops can stay just chill out, and let the thing drive itself. The Knight uses "advanced robotic technology for autonomous mobility," according to BAE. "This capability allows the Black Knight to plan routes, maneuver on the planned route, and avoid obstacles - all without operator intervention."

Black Knight participated in several BAE Systems demonstrations in

January 2007 at Ft. Knox, KY. While the Bradley [Fighting Vehicle] Technology Demonstrator was engaging an enemy target from cover in a support by fire position, the Black Knight was able to autonomously move to a covered position and observe the target, using its sensor package to provide battle damage assessment data back to the Bradley. This covered position was forward of the Bradley, a less tenable position for a manned vehicle to occupy. If the enemy target needed to be re-engaged, the Black Knight could effectively neutralize the target, but the command to fire would always be made by a remote Soldier and only after the data necessary to make positive identification is received.

Last month, a set of South African remotely-operated 35 mm guns spun out of control, and killed nine soldiers. The Black Knight basically operates under the same principles – taking that South African weapon, and making it mobile. And radio-operated.

What could go possibly wrong?

UPDATE: Arrgghh! has great pictures of the Black Knight, and some very interesting tidbits...

Smaller than a Bradley, bigger than a HMMWV. And unmanned. It's controlled by a guy inside that Bradley. And has the ability to operate on it's own, in a limited fashion, for navigation. It does use many

Bradley components... Speaking of the gun... [It] isn't real. It's decorative. Because the Army isn't quite ready yet for armed semi-autonomous robots that are armed and armored like that. What's that you say? SWORDS, the armed robots currently in

Iraq? There's no autonomy there. They do what human controllers tell them to do - not what a software algorithm thinks might be a good idea.

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