"Turning M113s into robots" Topic

In a flash, the uncrewed Vietnam-era armored personnel carrier flung a cable of explosives the length of a football field—then detonated it in a blast that cleared an eight-yard lane for troops to follow. Thursday's successful test of an autonomous platform for the decades-old Mine Clearing Line Charge could one day help troops breach enemy defenses while taking fewer casualties…

Defense One: link

Pretty cool. Vehicle loses may be quite high.

Vaguely related: In 1940, the French were preparing to convert up to 300 FT-17s to remote controlled bombs. Not surprising, since the French tried remote controlled bombs (Unmanned Ground Vehicles!) in the First World War.

(Reminder: "FT-17" was a post-war marketing name that Renault used for international sales. In French service it was the Light Tank, Model 1917. If you want to shoehorn it into the designation system the French adopted in the mid-30s, it would have been the R17.)

Soviet teletanks of the mid-30s:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletank

The US made huge numbers of the M113 APC. I commanded an M113 Mech Co.,'87-'89 at Benning[now Moore]. Our Mech Hvy Bde was the heavy element of the 18th ABN Corps.

We gave or sold M113s to many nations. The US gave about 70 to the ANA. Those with are not broken down are being used by the Taliban.

The US gave Ukraine M113s too.

The IDF is still using some M113s. But they know as we did. They are rather "fragile". So, you have to be careful how they are used/deployed.

I like the MICLIC. And mounting them on M113 APC drones is a good use of old tech. I read about in Iraq, the MICLIC was also used to clear streets in a hurry. I like that tactic …

There was talk about using the old UH-1 Huey as a drone for resupply. Have not heard of what came of that concept. When I got to the 101, '80-'83, we were still using them. Until they were replaced by the UH-60, about 18 months later.

More and more we see as tech evolves "remote controlled vehicles"/robots/drones are finding a place on the battlefield. As we see now in Ukraine, drones are becoming the norm.