Robowar: The next generation of warfare revealed – a general’s dream, but are they also humanity’s nightmare?

Killing machines: Next generation of warfare

Crusher

Developed for the research arm of the Pentagon, the Crusher is an autonomous robotic armoured vehicle capable of picking its way across a battlefield using an array of sensors and crushing parked civilian cars. During tests in Texas it was fitted with a machine gun, but the vehicle remains a prototype.

X47-B

Billed as the answer to American generals’ dreams of a generation of “super-drones” capable of being launched from aircraft carriers, this bat-like jet is far more autonomous than the current crop of pilotless vehicles being used in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Although prototypes are unarmed, it is capable of carrying weaponry.

Taranis

Named after the Celtic god of thunder, Taranis is the British answer to the X47-B and presages an age when combat aircraft will be pilotless. Taranis, which is built by BAE Systems, made its maiden flight in Australia last month and has been described as being capable of “full autonomy”.

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