UAVs have shown strong combat capabilities on multiple battlefields in recent years, making people feel the trend of unmanned warfare. However, UAVs are not the only form of unmanned equipment, as well as unmanned vehicles, unmanned ships, etc., which are all important components of future warfare.
However, due to the limitations of technical level, combat environment and other factors, the development and application of unmanned vehicles and unmanned ships are much more difficult than those of unmanned aerial vehicles. In this regard, China and the United States, two military powers, have launched a fierce competition.
1 American blunder.
Both China and the United States have put forward the goal of establishing an unmanned ground combat system that combines manned and unmanned operations, and have invested a lot of resources and manpower in the research and development of various types of unmanned ground equipment.
However, while China continues to introduce new types of unmanned ground combat vehicles, the United States has come to a standstill, not only lagging far behind China in the number and variety of products launched, but also making little progress in key unmanned reconnaissance vehicles and unmanned combat vehicles.
In fact, the United States began to work on unmanned ground combat vehicles as early as 2007, and deployed three "Sword" combat robots in the Middle East for testing. This point in time is much earlier than both China and Russia.
However, it was during this test that the US military claimed that there had been a serious accident: a combat robot, without receiving any commands, suddenly turned its gun on an American soldier.
The accident made the US military doubt the safety and reliability of unmanned ground combat equipment, and then the US military completely suspended the research and development of unmanned ground combat equipment.
This may seem like an accident that led to the suspension of research and development, but a closer analysis reveals that there are many doubts about the US military's claims.
2. The gap between China, the United States and Russia.
In 2007, it was still the initial stage of artificial intelligence research, and at that time, combat robots were operated by remote command, and there was no ability to fight autonomously. In this case, without the operator's instructions, the combat robot will not make any movements, let alone aim its gun at its own people.
However, because the development of artificial intelligence at that time led to a lot of discussion about the relationship and ethics between robots and humans, many people were concerned about the potential threat of robots.
From today's point of view, the level of artificial intelligence at that time was simply not up to the level of posing a threat to humans, but the US military said that their combat robots were aimed at their own people.
We have reason to suspect that the truth of this incident may be a political struggle within the US military, and someone used this opportunity to prevent the development of unmanned ground combat equipment.
In any case, since 2008, the US military's research and development of unmanned ground combat equipment has almost stopped, and no new combat robots have been launched.
During this period, unmanned ground combat equipment in China and Russia has achieved rapid development.
Russia attaches great importance to the results of research and development in the short term, and quickly launched remote-controlled command combat robots, including the "Uranus" series, and conducted combat tests on the Syrian battlefield.
China has launched a number of unmanned ground combat vehicles for foreign trade, which have been tested and improved through actual combat use by customers.
Moreover, compared with Russia, China has given full play to its advantages in information technology, and has continuously improved the design level of unmanned ground combat vehicles, and has now taken image recognition and other technologies as the standard configuration of China's unmanned ground combat vehicles.
It is said that the next technology to be realized may be autonomous driving technology. Of course, the final strike order still has to be given by people.
3. China's unmanned war.
Compared with Russia's unmanned ground combat vehicles weighing several hundred kilograms to several tons, China's unmanned ground combat vehicles have a wider variety and weigh more.
The unmanned ground combat vehicle for our army's own use has more than ten kilograms of quadruped combat robots, which are often referred to as mechanical dogs, which can carry rifles, light machine guns, etc., which is equivalent to an infantry.
There are also unmanned ground combat vehicles with a crawler chassis of the 100-kilogram level, which can carry general-purpose machine guns, heavy machine guns or rocket launchers, etc., which is equivalent to a fire support group.
There are also unmanned ground combat vehicles with a total combat weight of several tons, which can be equipped with 30mm cannons and anti-tank missiles, etc., which are equivalent to an infantry fighting vehicle.
In foreign trade equipment, there are unmanned ground combat vehicles with a total combat weight of tens of tons, which can be equipped with 105mm or 125mm tank guns, etc., which is equivalent to a main battle tank.
At the Zhuhai Air Show, China also showed an unmanned improved version of the VT5 light tank, called the VT5U, which will be an unmanned ground combat vehicle with a total combat weight of more than 30 tons and can fire 105mm armor-piercing shells, and can even confront the opponent's main battle tank head-on in actual combat.
Imagine that in the future, if our ground forces are unmanned, an unmanned tank like the VT5U, although the protection performance is not enough to resist the opponent's armor-piercing shells, but the tank gun on it can also penetrate the opponent's armor.
And our unmanned tank is penetrated, at most it will lose one piece of equipment, and it will not lose the first man. The opponent's main battle tank was penetrated by us, that is, to lose a well-trained crew.
These unmanned ground combat vehicles of different weight classes actually correspond to different levels in our troops, constituting a complete unmanned land combat system.
Such an unmanned war will bring tremendous pressure to the opponent and challenge the United States' counterattack.
Although the United States lags behind China in unmanned ground combat equipment, it has not given up its efforts in research and development and application. In recent years, the United States has also introduced a number of new unmanned ground combat vehicles in an attempt to close the gap with China.
One of the most notable is the U.S. Army's "Robotic Combat Vehicle" program, which aims to develop a lightweight unmanned ground combat vehicle that can work in tandem with manned armored vehicles to provide fire support, reconnaissance, transportation and other functions.
By 2024, the U.S. Army plans to deploy four test companies of robotic combat vehicles, each equipped with four robotic combat vehicles and a manned command vehicle.
The U.S. Army also plans to deploy a "robotic combat vehicle" test battalion by 2027, each with 16 "robotic combat vehicles" and four manned command vehicles.
The U.S. Army's "Robotic Combat Vehicle" program is a major breakthrough for the United States in unmanned ground combat equipment and an important U.S. counterattack against China.
5 China's advantages.
However, even if the United States makes some progress in unmanned ground combat equipment, it will be difficult to change China's lead in this regard.
China's advantages in unmanned ground combat equipment are mainly reflected in the following aspects:
Variety: China's unmanned ground combat vehicles are diverse, ranging from light quadruped robots to heavy unmanned tanks, covering different weight classes and combat missions, and can adapt to different combat environments and needs.
Technologically advanced: China's unmanned ground combat vehicles are technologically advanced, not only with the ability to command remotely, but also with artificial intelligence technologies such as image recognition and autonomous driving, which can achieve higher autonomy and intelligence, and improve combat efficiency and safety.
Large number: China has a large number of unmanned ground combat vehicles, not only for their own use, but also exported in large quantities, through the actual combat use of customers to test and improve, accumulated rich experience and data, for further research and development and application of strong support.
System improvement: China's unmanned ground combat vehicle system is perfect, not only has a separate unmanned ground combat vehicle, but also an unmanned ground combat system combined with manned armored vehicles, which can realize manned and unmanned coordinated operations and improve combat effectiveness and flexibility.
To sum up, China has developed a strong advantage in unmanned ground combat equipment, while the United States is facing a huge challenge. In the future, unmanned warfare will be a new battlefield for China and the United States, and it will also be a new stage for China to display its military strength and innovation capabilities.