Amid a growing wave of low-cost weaponized anti-aircraft drones threatening US troops overseas, the US military is taking all measures to protect its forces from the threat of lethality from above. But amidst expensive weapons, Futuristic but complex directed energy weaponAnd It has its own growing drone arsenalThe Pentagon is eyeing a pretty simple solution to its growing drone problem: re-inventing the gun.
In the Technology Readiness Experimentation (T-REX) program in August, the US Department of Defense tested an artificial intelligence-enabled autonomous robotic gun system that was developed by the United States. budding defense contractor Allen Control Systems named “Bullfrog”.
Consisting of a 7.62 mm M240 machine gun mounted on a specially designed rotating turret equipped with electro-optical sensors, proprietary AI and computer vision software, the Bullfrog is designed to fire small arms fire at drone targets with far greater accuracy. Was done. The average American service member can accomplish the feat with a standard-issue weapon like the M4 Carbine Next Generation XM7 RifleIn fact, footage Bullfrog in Action, published by ACS, shows the truck-mounted system locking onto small drones and knocking them out of the sky with just a few shots.
The Bullfrog appears to be effective enough against drone targets to impress DOD officials: According Alex Lovett, deputy assistant secretary of defense for prototyping and experimentation within the Pentagon's Office of Research and Engineering, told reporters at a demonstration event in August that testing of the “low-cost” Bullfrog solution “went really well,” according to Defense Daily. ” If the Pentagon adopts the system, it would be the first publicly known lethal autonomous weapon in the US military's arsenal. According For the Congressional Research Service. (The office of the Secretary of Defense has not yet responded to WIRED's request for comment.)
Taking down small, fast-moving drones with conventional firearms is a significant challenge for even the most talented marksman, and the U.S. military is pursuing various methods to make its small arms more effective against unmanned aerial threats. Those efforts also include the purchase of small to medium capacity munitions And “Buckshot-like” gunpowder which can replicate the effects of guns which is Proven effective anti-drone measures amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine; Rifle-mounted radio frequency and GPS jammers to disorient incoming drones so soldiers don't have to carry separate, bulky counter-drone weapons dronebuster Or night fighterAnd “smart” optics from companies like smartshooter And zeromark This reportedly allows a weapon to fire only when it is locked on to the target. The army has already started Integrating anti-drone exercises into your basic training regimenpart of one comprehensive effort Making such schooling as “routine” as traditional marksmanship training.
For ACS co-founder and CEO Steve Simoni, a former Navy nuclear engineer, the best way to adapt the gun to drone threats is not through novel accessories or advanced training, but through advanced robotics and a sophisticated AI. There is combination which is capable of guessing. Target achievement and tracking.