Militaries worldwide are developing killer robots; however, the US Marines used a much deadlier approach: sticking a grenade onto a tiny drone and steering it to blow up their enemies.
The Drone40 is a reduced, low-cost, expendable drone that can be deployed by hand or launched from a 40mm grenade launcher. The U.S. troops have been seen training with the potentially game-changing unmanned systems, which can carry a wide variety of payloads, including various sensors or small high-explosive warheads.
The Drone40 is manufactured by Australian defence contractor DefendTex, who claim the unmanned quadcopter can be equipped with a wide variety of payloads, including full-motion electro-optical video cameras, electronic warfare systems, and laser designators, as well as smoke or flash-producing systems.
According to Popular Science, the device enables soldiers to toss explosives on the targets that would be hard to reach otherwise or to leave the grenades flying in the air like a sort of aerial landmine. In addition, recent Drone 40 field tests reveal how robotic and semi-autonomous tech is evolving the combat already. This clearly demonstrates that these small robots are being incorporated into battlefield operations worldwide at even the lowest operational levels.
In current field tests, Marines practised tossing and launching the small quadrotor drones. The drone can remain in the air for an hour, travel at speeds up to 45 miles per hour, and travel up to 12 miles away before exploding, according to specs. The basic goal is to make the grenade efficient and deadly enough to be used by infantry who otherwise have limited access.
Let’s see this video that demonstrates marines launching the grenade-bearing drone then catching up to grab them from the sky.
