U.S. Army Wargames: When You Reinforce Foot Soldiers With Drones And Ground Robots You Get A 10–Fold Increase In Combat Power

An 82nd Airborne soldier trains with a Black Hornet mini-drone before deploying to Afghanistan.

Breaking Defense: AI & Robots Crush Foes In Army Wargame

A simulated infantry platoon, reinforced with drones and ground robots, repeatedly routed defending forces three times its size — without losing a single human soldier. Would this work in real life?

WASHINGTON: How big a difference does it make when you reinforce foot troops with drones and ground robots? You get about a 10–fold increase in combat power, according to a recent Army wargame.

“Their capabilities were awesome,” said Army Capt. Philip Belanger, a Ranger Regiment and Stryker Brigade veteran who commanded a robot-reinforced platoon in nearly a dozen computer-simulated battles at the Fort Benning’s Maneuver Battle Lab. “We reduced the risk to US forces to zero, basically, and still were able to accomplish the mission.”

That mission: dislodge a defending company of infantry, about 120 soldiers, with a single platoon of just 40 attackers on foot. That’s a task that would normally be assigned to a battalion of over 600. In other words, instead of the minimum 3:1 superiority in numbers that military tradition requires for a successful attack, Belanger’s simulated force was outnumbered 1:3.

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Update: Robots humble US Army in wargames (Asia Times)

WNU Editor: This is going to be the future of ground combat.

High-Tech Combat Equipment Expedited For Use In Iraq

A Shadow UAV is launched from its new site at COB Speicher Sept.19. The aircraft will reach a speed of 70mph in .9 seconds before leaving the launch ramp Photo:Pfc. Durwood Blackmon, 25th Infantry

From The Washington Post:

WASHINGTON -- The Army will deliver some key technologies to ground forces in war zones three years ahead of schedule as part of its $160 billion combat modernization program led by Boeing and SAIC.

Senior Army officials said Thursday that changes to the Future Combat Systems program will expedite the use of high-tech equipment, including unmanned sensors and robotics, to infantry brigades fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan by 2011.

Portions of the program were expected to be used by armored units by 2014, but Army officials say the technology is needed for the current war effort.

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My Comment: This is obviously Defense Secretary Robert Gates doing. Instead of debating and focusing one's time on big budget items for projects such as F-22 squadrons, Air-Craft Carrier groups, and Anti-Missile Defense projects .... the focus instead should be on providing as quickly as possible the proper equipment to the troops on the ground who are fighting and dying in America's wars today.