Russia has boasted its robot tank outperformed manned vehicles in recent tests paving the way for Vladimir Putin to expand his droid army.
Two unmanned tanks, one of which is designed as a kamikaze device, have been subjected to testing outside Moscow for almost a year.
The tanks, called Nehreta, have undergone more rigorous testing in recent weeks and today it emerged they have performed better than the manned versions.
Both tanks are equipped with huge machine guns, and footage of them being tested has been released in Russia
Putin told military chiefs in Moscow: ‘We are now stronger than any potential aggressor’
Colonel Oleg Pomazuev, who witnessed the tanks being put through its paces at the Alabino testing site just outside Moscow, told the Russian news site Military Review the tank-like robot shone in trials.
The robot can carry a 12.7mm or 7.62mm machine gun or an AG-30M grenade launcher.
Although the Russian military man did not name the manned tanks the Nerehta beat, it appears The Kremlin is shifting towards an increasingly automated arsenal.
Samuel Bendett, an associate research analyst with the Center for Naval Analyses’ International Affairs Group, told Defense One: ‘They have also been stating for a while that their modernization and state armaments program will include high-tech and unmanned systems.’
General Mark Milley, chief of staff of the US Army, told the website: ‘We are in a period of time, historically, where you are getting a convergence of a wide variety of technologies. We are at the leading edge of that.
‘In combination, I guarantee that they are changing and will change the fundamental character of war.’
‘You have a lot of changes in mechanical engineering, in robotics. So autonomous systems, or semi-autonomous, they are already here.
‘They have arrived. They have not proliferated in wide use, yet. They will be, very, very shortly.
‘Within a matter of years, you will see widespread use of robots.’
Previously, Vladimir Putin has demanded that Russia’s nuclear arsenal is able penetrate every missile defence system.
The Russian President said the country must address any changes to the balance of power in the world, and stated it has shown its military capabilities in Syria.
Putin told military chiefs in Moscow last year: ‘We are now stronger than any potential aggressor.’