Who will become the master of the new era land battlefield? Unmanned Tank VS Mech Warrior

Original title: Unmanned Tank VS Mech Warrior

Who will become the master of the land battlefield in the new era?

What will the land battlefield look like in the future? Many sci-fi movies and military games have looked ahead to this, and the most eye-catching ideas are unmanned tanks and individual-powered mechs.

Unmanned tanks are to liberate soldiers from heavy armor; single-soldier power mechs are to add strong power and strong armor to soldiers. In the future, who will shine on the land battlefield?

Unmanned tanks marched into the battlefield

Searching for but finding the enemy's figure, it was replaced by a series of steel weapons, and the soldiers tried to kill only one machine after another. The huge intelligent unmanned tank in the cartoon "Farewell, Weapon" makes people see the appearance of the future "Land War King".

As early as the Second World War, the concept of unmanned tanks has emerged. The Giant tracked remote-controlled bomb truck used by Germany in the Battle of Normandy, although a suicide blast vehicle, already had the prototype of an unmanned tank.

With the rise of the concept of "unmanned ground vehicles" in recent years, countries around the world have successively launched a series of tracked miniaturized unmanned combat vehicles. The United States' "coarse tooth saw" unmanned combat vehicle is the fastest unmanned combat vehicle in the world. Russia's "Ulan"-9 unmanned combat vehicle, with a 30 mm machine gun, 4 anti-tank missiles and 6 anti-aircraft missiles, has advanced performance and strong firepower. Soldiers operate remotely in the control room, and as soon as they spot an enemy, they immediately activate machine guns and large-caliber machine guns to strafe; if they find an enemy armored weapon, the Ulan-9 will immediately fire anti-tank missiles to destroy it. The Ulan-9 can provide long-range reconnaissance and fire support for the Army's infantry detachments, airborne troops, Marine Corps and other services.

However, none of this can be called unmanned tanks. In recent years, Russia has experimented with unmanned and combat systems on armored vehicles in active combat, in order to create a true unmanned tank.

You know, in addition to the tank driver, all the tank crews in the world were located in the turret, but the turret of russia's latest T-14 "Armata" main battle tank in service was unmanned, and the 3 crew members stayed in a separate armored sealed cabin, and the control of the turret and all other work was carried out by remote control. Theoretically, this sealed cabin can be completely removed from the tank, and the command and control of the entire tank is carried out by radio remote control, etc.

As a result, Russia first installed an unmanned system on the chassis of the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle, making it a fully automatic unmanned infantry fighting vehicle. On this basis, Russia has tried to produce unmanned and combat systems, so that the "Armata" can be unmanned and unmanned combat. It is reported that the unmanned version of the "Armata" main battle tank is expected to be available this year, which will form an "open digital architecture with a reinforced concrete foundation" for the unmanned automated armored vehicle.

In the future land battlefield, various threats will emerge in an endless stream. Helicopter gunships, drones, and various anti-tank weapons, anti-materiel weapons, and roadside explosives on the ground pose a serious threat to ground armored targets. In this complex combat environment, even the most powerful and heavy armor is difficult to deal with easily. Even if it is an armored beast like the "Armata" tank, if it "breaks its leg", it is just as difficult to walk. Therefore, the significance of developing unmanned tanks on the basis of active tanks remains to be explored.

"Iron Man" stepped out of the screen

Anyone who has seen the American movie "Edge of Tomorrow" will be hungry for the mechanical exoskeleton system that Tom Cruise wears. Compared to the omnipotent and sci-fi powered mechs in games and movies such as Fallout, StarCraft, and Pacific Rim, Tom Cruise's mechanical exoskeleton system is closer to real technology and easier to implement.

A mechanical exoskeleton, also known as a power exoskeleton, is a mechanical device constructed of a steel frame that allows people to wear and move. This equipment can provide additional energy for limb movement, so it is also called reinforcement suit, power suit, power armor, etc.

Soldiers often need to load heavy equipment in daily operations and battlefield environments, such as artillery to carry heavy shells, infantry to carry a large number of weapons and ammunition, long-term operation and marching will increase human pressure, exhaustion. Having a mechanical exoskeleton can help soldiers load heavier gear and supplies more easily. The high load capacity allows individual soldiers to have better protective armor and carry a variety of automatic weapons. More flexible mobility and battlefield applicability will make soldiers a true battlefield all-rounder.

At present, many countries in the world are developing mechanical exoskeleton systems, such as the HULC military power exoskeleton system in the United States, the "Hercules" exoskeleton system in France, and the "Soldier-21" exoskeleton equipment in Russia. The "human weight-bearing exoskeleton" launched by Lockheed Martin in the United States has a maximum load of 90.7 kg. Advanced portable computers keep this exoskeleton in tune with soldier movements, and hydraulically actuated robotic arms can also help soldiers extract and reload shells and missiles. The power source of the system is two lithium-polymer batteries with a total weight of 3.6 kg, which can guarantee the wearer to carry a weight of 90 kg at a speed of 4.8 km / h for an hour after a full charge, or sprint at a speed of 16 km / h.

The gap between China and the United States in the research and development of individual mechanical exoskeletons is narrowing. Some domestic scientific research institutions have conducted field tests of relevant product systems. The system incorporates multiple sensors capable of managing a miniature hydraulic system that creates an effective interaction between a human and a mechanical exoskeleton.

In the future, the mechanical exoskeleton will also gradually develop in the direction of fully armored and heavy firepower individual-powered armor by improving armor protection, adaptability to complex environments, and increasing support functions such as auxiliary firepower, communication, and reconnaissance, so that the infantry combat style that has been followed for thousands of years will have a subversive revolution. (Wang Xiaomeng)

On the sword

Winning the war at the lowest cost of life has been the highest goal pursued by military experts throughout the ages. In essence, the emergence of individual exoskeletons and unmanned tanks is to protect themselves and eliminate the enemy - individual exoskeletons can better improve the protection and combat capabilities of individual soldiers, and unmanned tanks can allow the army to kill and injure the enemy in a wider space. The two are to help improve the combat capabilities of the army's infantry and armored forces in different dimensions, which are the development directions that the army equipment needs to pay attention to in the future.

Equipment development stems from the original drive of technology. The development of information technology made precision warfare possible at the end of the last century. At present, driven by new theories and new technologies such as mobile Internet, big data, supercomputing, sensor networks, brain science, and strong demand for economic and social development, artificial intelligence has accelerated its development, and all fields of human society have accelerated from digitalization and networking to intelligence, and it has become possible for some people to cooperate with each other and even to fight without people. Army combat forces can quickly maneuver over a wider area of space, strike with precision strikes with less consumption, and break the enemy system at a smaller cost.

Driven by technology and driven by theory, the army's core combat capabilities are accelerating from the "ground assault + firepower strike" capability based on digital networks to the "long-range precision strike + special warfare system breaking" based on big data intelligence. The elite combat supported by the large system will be an important combat style for the army in the future. Army operations will show multi-dimensional, cross-field, and systematic characteristics, and a large number of ground and air unmanned equipment will accelerate into the land battlefield, coordinate with other traditional combat forces, and play an important role in intelligence reconnaissance, guided strikes, network sabotage, precision damage and other operations. (Commentator: Wang Yinsai)