A Russian combat robot is breaking new ground in autonomy, patrolling without human assistance, navigating its way across a 100-kilomter route and working with a swarm of drones. The new demonstrations, which were announced by the State-owned RIA Novosti news service last week, may look like me-too achievements in terms of competing with the West. Unlike the U.S. though, Russia puts its robots into the field, and the technology is likely to be used sooner rather than later.

The Marker unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) is being developed by Russia’s equivalent of DARPA, the Foundation for Advanced Studies (FPI). It is armed with a 7.62mm machine gun and a pair of guided anti-tank missiles, and has been involved in several development projects.

“The Marker concept is a technology demonstrator, to see what technologies and systems can…

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Source: www.forbes.com