Israel recruits robotic ground vehicle for risky operations

RoBattle is equipped with a modular ‘robotic kit’ comprising vehicle control, navigation, realtime mapping and autonomy, sensors and mission payloads

Israel Aerospace Industries has introduced a modular, 10-tonne, autonomous military robot for dangerous tasks previously undertaken by soldiers.

The six-wheeled unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) RoBattle is equipped with a modular ‘robotic kit’ comprising vehicle control, navigation, realtime mapping and autonomy, sensors and mission payloads. The diesel-fuelled system can also be configured with wheels or tank tracks. Ronit Devorkin Bar Natan, from IAI’s military robotics directorate, said: “You can put the kit on any of our platforms and transform it into a UGV.”

Operators can equip RoBattle with payloads such as manipulator arms; intel-ligence, surveillance and reconnaissance sensors and radar, and remotely controlled weapons. IAI expects it to be used for activities including convoy protection, decoy, ambush and attack, autonomous IED detection and clear-ing and border patrols.