Col Mandeep Singh (retd)

In a wargame conducted by US Army in 2019, a robot-reinforced platoon was tasked to dislodge a defending company of infantry of about 120 soldiers. The platoon, using its drones and robots, was able to control the area that probably a battalion would have been able to control in the preliminary operations. The platoon used its air and ground robots in a synchronized assault, overcoming numerically superior defences each and every time the platoon attacked the defending company in a series of validatory exercises.

It was a textbook demonstration of man-machine collaboration and of what the future of warfare might be, but it was also not a true reflection of existing capabilities as a number of near future technologies were used in the simulated battles. However, the prospects of achieving this synergy with manned-unmanned teaming (MUMT) are exciting and that is what is driving most of the advanced armies as they race to exploit emerging technologies in the field of robotics, AI, augmented reality, and the ilk to dominate the battlefield of the future. Some initial steps have already been taken with Russia and China emerging as frontrunners, with United States trying to catch up.

The MUMT concept describes the interaction between humans and uninhabited vehicles at the tactical level for the achievement of specific missions and tasks. MUMT is applicable across land, sea and air domains. A 2013 US Army Strategy Brief described MUMT as “the synchronised employment of soldier, manned and unmanned air and ground vehicles, robotics and sensors to achieve situational understanding, greater lethality and improved survivability.”

MUMT can be carried out at several levels with live streaming of data by an unmanned system to a manned platform at the basic level to the control of all aspects of the uninhabited vehicle’s operation by the manned platform at Level 5 i.e., the highest level of integration in MUMT. This teaming is presently being explored in the land environment to support mounted and dismounted forces by gathering ISR data, and potentially delivering electronic and kinetic effects under human supervision to support manoeuvre. With autonomous combat vehicles e.g., AI driven tanks already making their debut, the MUMT will need to be scaled up to carry out not only support manoeuvres but offensive tasks as well.

Developments in China and Russia

Leading the race are Russia and China with robotic soldiers already being deployed closer home along the Line of Actual Control by China’s PLA. The ‘Sharp Claws’ and ‘Mule 200s’ are categorized as robots operating by wireless. The ‘Sharp Claws’ looks like a toy tank with machine guns attached to it. 88 Sharp Claws have reportedly been deployed in Tibet with around 38 of them in the Ladakh region. Mule 200 complements them, serving as a transport vehicle for supplying ammunition. It can haul up to 200 kilograms of ammunition, supplies, or weapons for a distance of approximately 50 kilometres. China has reported to have stationed 120 of them along the Lone of Actual Control (LAC). In order to supplement these, 70 VP-22 armoured military vehicles are used by the PLA.

These are not the only unmanned systems employed by PLA Ground Forces as a recent PLA exercise in June 2022 saw a range of unmanned ground systems including unmanned reconnaissance vehicles, unmanned anti-tank vehicles, self-propelled weapon stations and robot dogs being integrated as part of a large-scale invasion drill in which more than 1,200 Chinese soldiers from multiple military installations in Shijiazhuang took part. The exercise was reportedly overseen by a special platoon ‘dedicated to unmanned warfare.’ Interestingly, the unmanned systems were employed not only for enhancing the troops’ situational awareness, command and control, but also their capability to launch strikes on targets. One of the aims of the exercise was to t