"Future Tank: Beyond The M1 Abrams" Topic

"Manned armored vehicles will have a place even in a world of killer drones, experts agreed. But will they engage the enemy directly with big guns, or stay hidden and send out armed robots instead?

What comes after the M1 Abrams, the Army's massive Reagan-era main battle tank? "Everything is on the table at this point," the service's armor modernization director, Maj. Gen. Richard Ross Coffman, says. He didn't give many details so I asked experts to speculate.

To my surprise, everyone we talked to, from retired Army tankers and industry experts to drone-loving futurists, agreed that manned armored vehicles of some kind will still have a place in future wars. Why? Human soldiers will still need a way to move about the battlefield under armor protection, and they'll need it even – or especially – when killer drones swarm the skies. After all, it's far easier for the enemy to build a drone that can kill an exposed human than one that can penetrate an armored vehicle…"
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Armand

Depressing. The Real World often is.

Humans will still have a lot to do/a place on the future battlefield. But drones/AI will continue to grow in tech and be part of the Combined Arms Tm.

I think some believe that drones/AI/'bots, etc. will dominate the battlefield. They'll certainly be more prevalent … but I think we are far from nothing but Drones being on the battlefield.

If drones fighting drones did become the future, why not just regulate war strictly to rock em sock em robots and the winner of the game wins the war?

It would be far cheaper and less destructive.

(smile)

Armand