Armor: August 25, 2000

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: The US Army is working to develop Unmanned Ground Vehicles that will be part of the Future Combat System. Under a series of tests designated Demo-III, the Army has shown that a single operator could handle several vehicles moving in a group at speeds up to 16km. The next set of tests will try to push the speed up to 32 kilometers per hour, with an ultimate goal of 64km/hr. The vehicles operate from a computerized terrain map of the area, fusing this data with updates from a variety of sensors looking for recent changes such as shell craters or new defense positions. Each vehicle has six sensors: two forward-looking infrared radars, two optical sensors, a millimeter-wave radar, and a laser radar. This allows the vehicle to see about 70m ahead. This will be improved by a new foliage-penetrating radar.--Stephen V Cole