Massive use of drones in battlefields: from logistics to the front line. Future armies hope to entrust various roles to the drones of tomorrow. A first look at what the future could offer comes from Consumer Electronics Show or CES in Las Vegas. The Chinese showed the world the "Ehang 184" drone: a sort of eight-rotor electric quadricopter.
According to the Chinese company, the current prototype is capable of carrying a passenger of around 100 kilos for 23 minutes at 60 miles per hour. The 184 series has been designed to transport a passenger, automatically, just entering the destination among the 184 available on the system today. The goal of the Chinese company is to make the flight easier and faster for anyone, trying to revolutionize the commercial sector, medical care, transportation and retail.
Although the Chinese company has never talked about possible military use, it is very likely to happen.
The drones, despite some failures like the "Robotic Mule" of Boston Dynamics, continue to represent the future. The Pentagon, for example, continues to test some logistics transport drones in Afghanistan as well as the ambitious MUT program. The "Manned-Unmanned Teaming" program grants a pilot who is on a flying platform (helicopter or fighter) the ability to control a formation of drones. The new US doctrine foresees "a constant evolution of automation in the field, with human pilots destined to become field commanders ”.
The natural convergence of these trends is a transport drone for military personnel. Although the advantages are obvious (small and less expensive than an airliner or a private one) one wonders about the degree of security achieved by such a system for failures that could affect primary systems and in any case not managed by a non-expert user.
Returning to the possible military use of the drone: one wonders, finally, how much risk the infantry redeployment entrusted exclusively to automated drones. In addition to the various mechanical problems that may arise, the scenarios of the future foresee asymmetric peaks of electronic warfare. This would make transport drones the favorite prey of enemy hackers.
(photo: EHang, Inc.)
