On a cold, snow-covered day in January, 2010 we had the opportunity to go to the area of Liege in Belgium, to visit FN Herstal.

Our day started with an inspection of the workshops where we could observe the various operations of machining, cold hammering of barrels, surface treatment of and assembly of the various weapons produced by FN. The frames, breech and other major pieces of the elements entering in the composition of the various models are carried out on ultramodern machine tools with rigorous quality control throughout manufacture.

Barrels are produced by cold hammering except those for 12.7mm machine guns of and 40mm grenade launchers. Surface treatment is conducted in a shop on the ground floor to apply electrolysis, anodization, parkerizing and painting while the chemicals are stored in the basement in order to eliminate any risk of cross contamination from certain components. The routing of parts in the course of manufacture are in the same building and is carried out by means of robots, which simplifies handling. Final assembly and tests are performed by highly trained and skilled employees.

In Belgium, FN employs approximately 1,400 people. The Herstal group maintains privileged relations with its subsidiary companies and its partners that include:

• Browning Viana in Portugal (handguns, hunting rifles),
• FNM in South Carolina, small arms for the American market and Winchester guns),
• ATI in Salt Lake City (Utah), Browning Buck Mark pistols and rifles
• Miroku in Japan, hunting weapons

Ballistic testing and the production of the ammunition are carried out in Zutendaal, approximately 25 miles from Liege. After our morning tour of the factories in Liege we then travelled to Zutendaal, where after a lunch, we were able to test on the shooting range some weapons which are the best of the FN production.

F2000

Conceived in 1995, the F2000 project was presented in 2001. It is a modular Bull Pup compact rifle and is completely ambidextrous. The interchangeability of parts such as sights, various types of hand guards and a stock with a housing designed to hold batteries used to feed an optoelectronic device makes it a general-purpose gun.

The internal mechanical units are contained in a polymer frame. The pistol grip is located at the centre of gravity. The cocking handle is located on the left side and ejection of the empty cases is carried out forward. There is a flash hider at the end of the barrel. In front of the trigger guard is a neutral or specialized hand guard that can receive various accessories. The upper portion of the frame receives a sight or various optic sights. A folding door flap makes it possible for the user to inspect the chamber or bolt head. The frame is made of composite material while the barrel and the bolt are made of steel. This model is available in a black or sand finish.

The safety is part of the selector switch. This is presented, as on the P90, in the shape of an ambidextrous rotary button placed just below the trigger and turns from right t left as safety (S), single shot (1), or burst (A).

On the initial version, sighting is ensured by a 1.6x optic, installed on a Picatinny rail made out of polymer and has a cover to protect it. Other models are fitted with a Picatinny rail made of light alloy, being able to receive a reflex sight, night sight, laser, or a Fire Control Unit (FCU) combining an optic sighting, rangefinder and a device for programming the grenade trajectories.

The rifle uses a standardized STANAG 4179 magazine (M16 improved steel magazine). The gun works with a gas port with a two-position regulator. The bolt is locked by a rotating head.

The F2000 receives a bayonet with a simple edge Bowie blade with no ring nor cross piece and has a prismatic khaki polymer material handle. The F2000 can be fitted with many accessories:

• standard hand guard with light,
• hand guard with three Picatinny rails,
• hand guard with 40mm grenade launcher

Several countries have purchased the F2000 to equip whole or part of their armed forces that include: Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Cyprus, Mexico, Peru, Slovenia and Eastern Timor.

While we have had on many occasions the opportunity to handle the F2000 at many international exhibitions, the handling of this Bull Pup designed weapon does not surprise the French who have handled a similar design with the FAMAS though the Belgian weapon is lighter while being bulkier, in particular in thickness.

The selector, similar to that of the P 90, surprises a little, but its control remains quite visible and a simple touch makes it possible to judge its position. Low pressure on the trigger allows single shots even when the selector is in the burst position. Recoil is light and without vibrations. The weapon is particularly stable, with a rate of fire about 800 to 900 rpm and the ejection of cases is carried out forwards.

FN SCAR

The FN SCAR (Special Forces Combat Assault Rifle) project was developed at the request of the U.S. Army for the realization of a modular system of weapons. The result is two families of weapons (SCAR L in 5.56mm and SCAR H in 7.62mm). Work on the project began in 2001 and the first models were delivered during the second half of 2007 for an evaluation by troops (Special Forces, Rangers, Navy Seals, etc).

The organization of the rifle is conventional with a folding telescopic stock that can be adjusted in length with a 6-position telescopic device. The cheek rest is adjustable in height. The stock, lower frame and pistol grip are of polymer and the frame is of light alloy. The barrel and bolt are made of steel. The cocking handle is reversible and the ejection port is located on the right. The front part of the upper frame is equipped with four Picatinny rails. This model is available in a black or sand finish.

The safety is combined with the selector switch (safe, single shot and burst) and is ambidextrous with a rotation limited to 90 degrees. The weapon is equipped with a six position rear sight (100-600 m) and a protected front sight. Both are adjustable for elevations and windage and can be folded. Various optic or sighting devices can be installed on the upper Picatinny rail.

FN SCAR is gas operated with a short stroke piston. The gas port has two positions and one is used with a sound suppressor. The bolt is locked by a rotating head.

The gun can receive a 40mm FN 40 GL (U.S. MK 13 Mod. O) grenade launcher locked on the lower the Picatinny rail, without any contact with the barrel. Export versions developed by FN can receive a bayonet.

The FN SCAR was developed in two initial versions, each one of them is available with two barrels of various lengths that are easily interchangeable:

* FN SCAR L (light) or MK 16, 5.56x45mm, with 10 or 14.5 inch barrels,
* FN SCAR H (heavy) or MK 17, 7.62mm NATO, with 13, 16 or 20 inch barrels.

Several thousand were provided to the U.S. Army (USSOCOM). In France, 20 units were delivered to the Army Special Forces and the police. It has also been delivered to several other countries for evaluation.

The FN SCAR is light, well balanced and its collapsible stock is unlocked and locked easily to adjust the length according to needs. The weapon is also usable with the stock folded back. While the position of the ambidextrous selector is similar to that of the M16, it has a more reduced rotation. Barrels can be change by the user without it being necessary to call upon a gunsmith. The barrel is free-floating and the Picatinny rails are machined in the frame. Recoil is very light in the 5.56mm version. With the SCAR 7.62mm (which weighs only 300 grams (0.7 pound) more than the 5.56mm version), the recoil remains very moderate. The rate of fire is close to 600 rpm for both rifles. Additionally, there are no vibrations in the stock when the bolt recoils and there is little friction with moving parts.

MINIMI

The development of this machine gun began in the early 1970s in order to meet a new need created by the appearance of small bore assault rifles. After the adoption of 5.56×45 ammunition with bullet S 109 from FN (5.56mm NATO), the Minimi is a success with its performances being notably increased because of its ammunition.

Its manufacture, initially undertaken in Belgium, extended to other countries that include Australia, United States, Canada, South Korea, Italy, Greece, Taiwan and Japan.

The stock is fitted with a shoulder rest. The frame is of rectangular shape with the cocking lever on the right. The barrel can be easily replaced and is finished with a flash hider. The gas cylinder is located below. The moving parts are the piston, the bolt and its head. A folding bipod with telescopic legs is installed just behind the gas block. The stock, pistol grip and forend are made out of polymer. The frame and the heat shield are of sheet metal. The barrel, piston, bolt and its head, are of machined steel. The weapon receives a black finish.

The safety is ensured by a transverse push-button placed in top of the pistol grip, pushed from right to left, it allows shooting. It acts by blocking the trigger. There is no selector. The front sight, adjustable in height, is protected by a cover and the rear sight permits shooting from 200 1,200 meters. On the most recent versions, a Picatinny rail allows the assembly of an optic sight or any other device.

Feeding is possible by two means:

* Belt with metallic detachable links introduced of the left side. Their advance is ensured by a lever which moves a feeder. The belt can be placed in a box or bag.
* FNC or M16 magazines. No change is needed to use one or the other feeding methods because the bolt has two lugs to push the cartridges.

Since its appearance, this weapon has had many improvements. Now a Minimi MK 2 is manufactured, which has an ergonomic stock, a folding carrying handle, an optional hydraulic buffer installed, a stop for the cocking handle and the removal of the loading indicator.

Several models are available:

• MK 2, standard version without buffer
• MK 2 H, standard version with buffer (used in the United States as the MK 46)
• MK 2 Para, with short barrel, telescopic stock, without buffer
• MK 2 H Para, with short barrel, telescopic stock with buffer

Both models can receive a standard handguard or one with three rails.

Since 1980, the Minimi has been the subject of an adaptation in 7.62mm NATO. Initially received with little interest, the Minimi 7.62mm was adopted by U.S. SOCOM under the name of MK 48. This weapon takes the characteristics of Minimi MK 2 H and it is intended to bring to the soldier an increased firepower of short duration. Its practical range is approximately 800 m.

Other 7.62mm Minimi: variations are

• Standard version with fixed stock
• Para version with telescopic stock
• Three rail hand guard with fixed stock
• Three rails handguard with telescopic stock
• Both are fitted with a hydraulic buffer

The Minimi 5.56mm is light:, approximately 7 kg (approx. 15 lbs) with a 250-round cartridge bag. Although not having a selector, the flexibility of its trigger allows single shot shooting. Recoil is moderate and the shooting remains stable, even in standing position.

The Minimi 7.62mm is a little heavier, + 1 kg (2 lbs more) with a 100-round cartridge bag. The recoil, too, remains very reasonable regardless the position of the gunner.

MAG 58

MAG = Mitrailleuse à Gaz (Gas Machine Gun) ou Mitrailleuse d’Appui Général (General Purpose Machinegun).

At the request of Sweden, the research department of FN, under the direction of Ernest Vervier (1908-1986), developed in 1957 a general-purpose, simple and robust weapon. This particularly powerful model machine gun is a world success with more than 230,000 guns beings manufactured. It is built in Belgium, but also made in Sweden, United Kingdom, Israel, Brazil, India, United States, Argentina, Canada, Australia and Egypt. In 1977, it replaced several machine guns in service in the American Army where it is designated as the M240.

The fixed stock contains a buffer. The frame is made of two steel plates riveted on spacers and contains the piston, bolt, lock and the recoil spring. Above the receiver is the feeding device and under it the pistol grip with trigger and sear. The cocking lever is on the right. The gas cylinder is under the barrel, its gas block has an adjustable valve making it possible to vary the rate of fire (3 positions + 1 maxi). The barrel can be easily replaced and it is fitted with a handle to carry the gun or replace the barrel.

The safety is ensured by a transverse push-button placed in top of the pistol grip, pushed from right to left, it allows shooting. It acts by blocking of the trigger. There is no selector.

Sights are:

• Front sight with ears, adjustable; rear eyepiece tangent sight with cursor on steps (200-800 m) U notch and leaf
  (900-1,800 m)
• Most recent models have a Picatinny rail on the cover of the feed mechanism

This gun works with gas action, locked bolt and the bolt is opened before shooting. Locking is ensured by a mobile lock that drops under the action of the piston and takes support on a central hardened steel locking point. The striker is interdependent of the piston.

The weapon uses a collapsible bipod. It can also be fitted on a tripod or various other devices on vehicles, tanks, boats or aircraft.

The MAG undoubtedly represents one of the best of the universal machine guns since World War II: not too heavy, accurate, handy and easy to use. The regulator ensures its good performance under the worst of conditions. In spite of its power, the recoil remains very moderate. The firing device does not have a selector but short bursts of two rounds are possible. Its stability when shooting is remarkable.

40mm Grenade Launcher

We tested the 40mm grenade launcher as installed on the 5.56mm FN SCAR. The assembly of this accessory is carried out quickly and without tools. The locking points are conceived in such manner that no stress is imposed on the barrel. Loading is carried out by spiral rotation, then by advance of the barrel. Moreover, it can swivel to the right or left side for easy loading of extra long ammunition.

The trigger, in the shape of a ring, is located beneath the rifle’s trigger guard. Its opening is sufficiently broad to allow the firing with gloves.

The recoil impulse is slightly higher than that of shooting a ball cartridge. Shooting is very accurate with a probable hit in a one meter square target at 100 meters. The model that we tested was equipped with lateral left sights as chosen by the Americans. We find it is not very practical because the head position does not permit comfortable and quick shooting. FN has developed for its other customers another sighting system and proposes their Fire System Control (FCS) combining an optic sight, rangefinder and a device for programming of the explosion of grenades according to their trajectory.

Editor’s Note: This wraps up Robert Bruce’s three part series on military robots with a quick look at some current systems and then some crystal ball gazing. For those who are wondering why a “gun magazine” is devoting so much space to electromechanical gizmos and gadgets, we offer the observation that men with guns on the battlefield have always dreamed of ways to be more lethal and survivable. For American and allied forces directly engaged in the Global War on Terror, this dream is an immediate practical concern as a matter of life or death. Most all of the technologies in use and in the pipeline to make robots work better also make the common soldier’s weapons better. From all-weather sights to seeker projectiles, from stabilized mounts to directed energy beams, robotic research profoundly influences manportable weaponry. So, consider these articles a preview of what you’ll probably be reading about in SAR a dozen years from now. – Robert G. Segel

They have no fear, they feel no pain. They need no sleep and they don’t complain. They’re dead shots with a variety of weapons in any kind of weather day or night. And – if killed in action – nobody has to write a letter to their families or pay out life insurance benefits. They’re “weaponized robots” and more of them are on the way to the battlefield.

Nothing New

Unmanned war machines have been around for more than a hundred years. It is said that bomb equipped balloons were launched by both sides in the American Civil War with the object of causing destruction behind enemy lines. Land and sea mines are primitive autonomous weapons, waiting with infinite patience until bumped into.

The “Kettering Bug,” a bomb-carrying biplane with pre-set robotic controls, was flight tested by Americans late in WWI. German scientists picked up the idea and two decades later were sending robot ramjets against London in the form of V-1 “Buzz Bombs.”

In the 1950’s the US Air Force began arming jet fighters with Sparrow AIM-7 rockets, the first “fire and forget” weapons for air-to-air combat. In the Vietnam War “Firebee” AQM-34L recon drones saved countless numbers of American airmen by flying photo and electronic recon missions over Hanoi and Haiphong. It proved particularly useful at pinpointing both conventional anti-aircraft weapons and the increasingly deadly surface-to-air missiles supplied by the Soviet Union.

The Tomahawk Cruise Missile, initially fielded in 1983, is still flying extraordinary distances over hostile terrain to deliver high explosive payloads with pinpoint accuracy.

Building on the work of Israeli forces in the use of very small recon aircraft, America adopted the Pioneer UAV in time for the 1990-91 Gulf War. There, the 416 pound drone earned the distinction of being the first robot to accept the surrender of enemy combatants.

“The USS Wisconsin deliberately flew its Pioneer low over Faylaka Island. When the Iraqi defenders heard the sound of the UAV’s two-cycle engine, they knew they were targeted for more naval shelling. The Iraqis signaled surrender by waving handkerchiefs, undershirts and bed sheets.” American Forces Press Service

Why Robots?

The United States Armed Forces enjoy significant technological superiority over current and near future adversaries. This, serving highly trained and motivated warfighters, enables Americans to dominate almost any battlespace day or night and in any weather. But too many of the tasks that must be performed involve putting humans at unnecessary risk. Of course, combat has always involved degrees of risk and resulting casualties, but there is no excuse for sending men into a meat grinder when machines will do as well or better.

Robots in their many current and emerging forms offer a lot to human counterparts in the combat zone. Just about any tactical task – from hauling supplies, to reconnaissance, to the application of lethal force – is now or will soon be done in part or in whole by machines.

A tremendous variety of robots are working right now for American land, sea and air forces. Some of these include crawlers like MATILDA and TALON (recently equipped with weapons), rollers like DRAGON RUNNER, flyers like PREDATOR, and swimmers like RMS. But, as they say, “we ain’t seen nothin’ yet….”

The Science of War

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is central to the application of existing and emerging scientific knowledge to every aspect of human conflict. Its mission is to maintain the technological superiority of the U.S. military and prevent technological surprise from harming our national security. This is done by sponsoring “high payoff research” that bridges the gap between fundamental discoveries and their military use.

A quick glance at some recent programs launched by DARPA, just in the area of Urban Warfighting, shows how cutting-edge science is being applied to some very practical military uses. Contractors have been given six to twelve months to present “feasibility demonstrations” for 36 highly intriguing concepts, including these with distinctly robotic overtones:

• Firefight Aerial Sensor and Mapper
• Air-Dropped Vertically Traversable Unmanned Ground Vehicles
• Electroadhesive Wall-Climbing Robot for Three Dimensional Mobility in Urban Environments

“Potential applications for such robots… include surveillance, reconnaissance, pathfinding, deception, weapon delivery, transporting artifacts, and small scale actuation. Applications may include minefield detection wherein small sensors are mounted on hopping robots or robots with multi-task capabilities, intelligence gathering in city pipelines, robots in large numbers for decoy applications, or extremely small robots that might be injected and pick a door lock.” DARPA Distributed Robotics Overview

DARPA’s Distributed Robotics Program is looking for revolutionary approaches to extremely small robots, reconfigurable robots, systems of robots, biologically-inspired designs, innovative methods of robot controlling including innovative interfaces, and methods of implementing pooled capabilities and/or layered intelligence. We can get a better idea about what all that means by looking at some specific projects funded by DARPA and actually being worked on right now by various groups in industry, academia and high-speed science labs.

• Robot Sentries. “Sandia’s Intelligent Systems & Robotics Center is developing and testing a robotic perimeter detection system for Small Unit Operations. The objective is to demonstrate the viability of using a cooperative team of robotic sentry vehicles to investigate alarms from intrusion detection sensors. This cooperative team concept can significantly reduce the workload and increase the effectiveness of a single warfighter in the battlefield. ”Sandia National Laboratories
• Autonomous Army Ants. SWARM (Smart Warfighter Array of Reconfigurable Modules) “DARPA Software for Distributed Robotics (SDR) program is developing robot behavior and software to enable very large groups of very small, very inexpensive robots to perform useful tasks. SDR will allow human operators to control robot ‘swarms’ without having to consider what each individual robot is doing. ”DARPA Strategic Plan
• Combat Crabs. “Modeled after a crab, Aerial II ALUV (Autonomous Legged Underwater Vehicle) is designed to remove mines and obstacles on land and underwater in the surf zone. Its unique brand of legged locomotion capitalizes on a crab’s agility, stability, and efficiency and will allow Aerial to scramble over obstacles and crevices that traditional wheeled vehicles would find insurmountable.” iRobot Corporation

Future Combat Systems

The US Army is going through the agonizing process of “Transformation” from heavy forces structured for large scale conflict against conventional adversaries to those that are light, fast, flexible, and far more lethal. All types of robots are a big part of that transformation.

“Future Combat Systems (FCS) is catalyzing the Army’s transformation to the Objective Force. It will be a networked system-of-systems that includes manned and unmanned ground vehicles, along with various unmanned air vehicles. The goal is to develop Units of Action that have the lethality and survivability of an M1-based (Abrams tank) heavy force, but with the agility of today’s light forces.” DARPA Strategic Plan

In addition to a family of manned vehicles, FCS, as currently envisioned, will include four distinct types of ground robot platforms.

• NLOS-LS (Non-Line-of-Sight – Launch System) is a roving robotic mortar carrier.
• ARV (Armed Robotic Vehicle) is a hunter-killer heavy armored car with sophisticated sensors, guided missiles and a high velocity main gun.
• MULE (Multifunction Utility/Logistics and Equipment) is actually several types of vehicles built on a common chassis. Depending on equipment and configuration, it can be a supply carrier, air assault weapons platform, countermine system, and even a autonomous ambulance named “Valkyrie” after the mythical Nordic creatures that flew fallen warriors straight to Valhalla.
• SUGV (Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle) is the only one actually in service now, typified by MATILDA and TALON EOD robots that have been recently upgraded with remote teleoperated weapons platforms.

FCS also includes four classes of unmanned air vehicles ranging from small model plane style recon flyers used at the platoon and company level, through larger fixed wing and rotary wing recon, to the potential for flying an Apache-type robot helicopter with air-to-ground and air-to-air attack capabilities

Lethality Components

With directed energy weaponry including lasers and focused microwaves developing at a high speed, it is now fashionable in future combat circles to talk about “lethality components” as opposed to the old term “guns” used by men and machines. Some other interesting new concepts include:

• Electrothermal. “An electrothermal gun uses electrical energy to heat a propellant that is allowed to expand rapidly to create a force on the ordnance. The force is capable of accelerating a projectile to high speeds thermodynamically.” Federation of American Scientists
• Magnetic. “It’s the fastest gun in the world,” says physicist Marcus Knudson, lead scientist on Sandia’s magnetic propulsion project. “At 20 kilometers per second… would send material from New York to Boston in half a minute.” Sandia National Laboratories News Release
• Metal Storm. “Our electronic ballistics system (demonstrating a 40mm multi-tube array on the TALON robot) has no mechanical parts and provides a lightweight, compact weapon which carries a payload of sixteen shots, ten more than the existing alternative. The system is capable of variable rates of fire, selected and fired by remote control. We intend to undertake further development of the Metal Storm system with a view to increasing the payload to 48 shots.” Mike O’Dwyer, Director of Scientific Innovation, Metal Storm
• Smart Munitions. These are already being widely used in the form of artillery shells and “smart bombs” like JDAM that ride beams from laser designators to impact with uncanny precision. So, why not more, smarter and smaller versions that don’t need a designator? “These smart munitions could be defensive or offensive, be vehicle-mounted on the various Future Combat Systems manned and unmanned vehicles, and/or be carried by the Objective Force Warrior or future warriors. Quick-reaction fire-and-forget miniature smart munitions would improve lethality against enemy vehicles and personnel….” US Army Space and Missile Defense Command

Death From Above

“DARPA is conducting three unmanned air combatant programs: the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) with the Air Force, UCAV-N with the Navy, and the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft with the Army. These aircraft will be teamed with manned systems on the ground and in the air….” DARPA Strategic Plan

The Navy and Air Force UCAVs are basically unmanned fighter jets with most of the same characteristics and capabilities as the ones that human pilots are flying in now. The program is progressing quickly and early versions are taking off without human aid, navigating on their own, doing high-value recon, and releasing “smart” ordnance in flight.

As for the Unmanned Combat Armed Rotorcraft, this will be “an all-weather, highly autonomous and survivable unmanned rotorcraft fully integrated into the Army’s Objective Force combat maneuver force structure. Capable of autonomous mission planning while in flight, the UCAR will request guidance from a human operator only for tasking and final weapons authorization.” Boeing News Release

Man-in-the-Loop

DARPA recognizes that, as hard as it is oftentimes for people to work together, a lot of sober thought and hard work needs to go into optimizing man-machine teams of the near future. Studies are underway to analyze how humans act, think and communicate and how robots might be equipped to handle our very different levels of physical and mental competence.

Increasingly smart robots will be working with humans whose baseline intelligence has not measurably improved in the last thousand years. Undaunted, DARPA is pressing forward with some spooky initiatives that just may have a payoff in helping scared, exhausted and information-overloaded soldiers work smarter and hit harder on future battlefields.

• Brain Boosters. “Our Augmented Cognition program looks to directly (but non-invasively) measure human cognitive load so that information may be presented to the warfighter or commander in a way that does not overload human cognition when mental processes are pressed to the limit, and that takes advantage of spare ‘processing power.’ This will make those working under high-pressure circumstances much more effective, and will fundamentally change the nature of the human-machine interface, finally creating interfaces that adapt to the user rather than the other way around.”DARPA Strategic Plan
• Brain Machine Interface. Kicking augmented cognition up several notches, we find DARPA eagerly pursuing the eerie goal of making something happen just by thinking about it. “This program is finding ways to detect and directly decode signals in the brain so that thoughts can be turned into acts performed by a machine. The long-term Defense implications… are enormous; imagine U.S. warfighters that only need use the power of their thoughts to do things at great distance.” DARPA Strategic Plan

Command and control aren’t the only areas of human-robot interaction that DARPA is interested in. Improving the soldier’s comfort, stamina, load-lifting, distance-marching, lethality, communications, and survivability are urgent goals so that men can keep pace with their machines.

• Bionic Man. “The overall goal of the Exoskeletons for Human Performance Augmentation (EHPA) Program is to develop devices and machines that will increase the speed, strength, and endurance of soldiers in combat environments. Projects will lead to self-powered, controlled and wearable exoskeletal devices and/or machines and demonstrations of their utility in military applications. Inclusion of exoskeleton technology into land-based operations could potentially increase the capabilities of the ground-based warfighter and radically alter the current military doctrine.”DARPA Defense Sciences Office
• Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN). A nanometer is one billionth of a meter, a length scale where the rules of classical physics don’t readily apply. ISN researchers aim to “…create a 21st century battlesuit that combines high-tech capabilities with light weight and comfort. Imagine a bulletproof jumpsuit, no thicker than ordinary spandex, that monitors health, eases injuries, communicates automatically, and maybe even lends superhuman abilities.” ISN

So, if all goes as planned over the next ten to twenty years the battlefields will swarm with armed robots of all types working for and with super soldiers. With luck this unstoppable team will be on the side of the good guys.

The internet has everything you need to know about Robotic Warriors of all types. Some good places to start are:

• Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International: www.auvsi.org
• Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency: www.darpa.mil
• Department of Defense Joint Robotics Program: www.jointrobotics.com
• Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies: http://web.mit.edu/isn/
• MACHINEBRAIN.COM: www.machinebrain.com
• Sandia FIRE ANT in action: www.sandia.gov/isrc/fireant.html