Thursday Military Tech – Israel’s New Semi-Autonomous Urban Warfare Jeeps

Say what you will about their utter lack of decorum – and there’s a lot to say – Israelis have a way of naming things. “Operation Maybe This Time” is probably my favorite. But naming their soon to be deployed semi-autonomous sentries “Guardium” might rank a close second. Nicely understated. Via MilitaryPhotos:

Israel’s newest “soldier” can see at night, never nods off on sentry duty and can carry 660 pounds without complaining. The Guardium, a remote-controlled, unmanned vehicle commissioned by the Israeli military and shown to The Associated Press on Monday, is among the first such machines to be ready for the battlefield. The army said it had not yet entered service, however, and declined further comment. The four-wheeled vehicle is designed to replace human soldiers in dangerous roles, and sometimes tedious missions, cutting casualties… The Guardium even has a limited capability to operate on its own. Following preprogrammed routes, it can navigate alone on patrol along a barrier fence or make its way through a city — the vehicle knows how to deal with intersections, traffic and road markings… The Guardium never mentally wanders or falls asleep during mind-numbing guard or patrol missions in dangerous war zones.

That’s definitely what humanity needs: a tireless autonomous vehicle that’ll be cutting its teeth on some of the planet’s most brutal urban landscapes: