These Gun-Shooting Robot Vehicles Are the Future of Urban War

The U.S. military has spent the past month running exercises at various locations in California to prepare for “future war-winning readiness.” And the photos being officially released include plenty of robot dogs, augmented reality headsets, resupply drones, and at least one mysterious AI-driven vehicle. There’s also an eight-wheeled, all-electric robot vehicle that packs quite a bit of firepower, as you can see in the GIF above.

The Army Futures Command hosted senior Army leaders and allies from around the world to witness this so-called “human machine integration demonstration” at Fort Irwin in California in recent weeks. Guests included military leaders from the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France, and Japan.

The exercises, part of an annual demonstration called Project Convergence Capstone 4, weren’t just about experimenting with American capabilities for an international audience. U.S. allies also brought their own machines—robots that wouldn’t look out of place in what used to be considered futuristic sci-fi.

The images that have been released by the U.S. Army, including the video below, are a great reminder that some version of a Terminator-style future with autonomous land vehicles sporting high-powered weapons is probably way closer than we think. In fact, it seems to already be here in some ways, even if these new exercises are being billed as “experiments.”

Click through the slideshow to see the photos that have been recently released by the U.S. Army, including plenty of images from the Army National Training Center at Fort Irwin where these lethal robots were recently tested.