1 in 50 Troops in Afghanistan is a Robot
Monday, February 7, 2011 at 11:08AM 
The U.S. military forces in Afghanistan aren't going it alone any more: As of February, more than 2,000 robots are also helping the cause.
According to Wired.com's calculation, that means one in 50 U.S. troops in Afghanistan is a robot.
Marine Corp Lt. Col. Dave Thompson, the project manager for the joint project office for robotics systems, said historically these droids have been used primarily for detecting improvised explosive devices. But today, their roles have expanded to include reconnaissance, surveillance and to monitor entry control points.
Thompson said there are five primary robots being employed: a 35-pound mini-EOD robot that can be carried in a backpack; medium-sized Talon and Packbots that weigh about 65 pounds; a 120-pound Talon that is popular with EOD units because of its strong arm and manipulator; and a vehicle-sized M160, which can remotely clear minefields.
The M160 features a front-facing roller with flails and hammers that churn the soil to destroy or detonate mines. The robots are designed to absorb multiple explosions as they clear the field. Despite the beating they take, they have a 90 percent reliability rate, he said.
Reader Comments (4)
While the robots are cool. it is a huge dis-service to the men and women from countries other than the U.S.A. to say that American troops have been going it alone until now.
Canada alone has lost over 120 troops in the eight years our forces have been deployed in Afghanistan.
Maybe think BEFORE you write.....
You have to admit they have done most of the heavy-lifting.i'm assuming other countries just jumped in to show support.
US going it alone?!? Badly informed flag-waving bull like this is the reason the rest of the world doesn't like great swathes of your country. As Dave says above it's a dis-service not to mention it, in fact it's more like this whole article is basically just dancing on the graves of the 1,100 or so non-US service personnel who have died in a war that was started by that incompetent & barely literate ex-president that you bunch of halfwits voted in more than once.
Around half the casualties in Afghanistan aren't American, & including the US 19 countries have supplied troops. Most of these countries have less than 10% of the military capability, less than a quarter of the population & significantly less military budget then the US. These other 18 countries quite rightly wanted to help your country after the atrocious attacks of 9/11, & to have American "journalists" throw out lines like this just confirms what the rest of the world thinks about "y'all".
Try research before throwing out such crap. In fact in your case I'd say you should start by looking the word up in a dictionary. Wanker.
And yes, Lance Corporal. And yes, served in Afghanistan. And yes, lost two friends.
Wars will one day be fought robot vs. robot and hopefully not 100% robots vs all third world country humans. What scares me is iRobot who creates many household robots is producing the SWORDS Talon and other gun brandishing bots.