Image shows three soldiers, one of them climing into the window of a small wooden building, the other two holdling guns, next to a small vehicle with a flat top that holds several devices.
Unmanned Ground Vehicle platform “Ziesel” from the manufacturer ­Diehl­ Defence takes part in a demonstration of the EU-funded iMUGS (integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System) project with Bundeswehr soldiers. Photo: © picture alliance/dpa | Fabian Sommer.

The Limits of Autonomy. Critically Assessing Factors Limiting Full Autonomy of Military Uncrewed Ground Vehicles

The robots are coming! In 2024, no week has passed without eye-catching headlines stating that “the robot wars have […] begun” as part of “a new revolution of warfare.” As robots are increasingly integrated into society, they are also being introduced into the military. In the land domain, military robots are not necessarily humanoids, a la iRobot, but are often uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs). Looking closely, it becomes clear that we are quite far from the controversial notion of ‘fully autonomous’ robot warfare. High levels of autonomy likely won’t be achieved in UGVs in the mid-term, as the features that enable it are, ironically, its main weakness.

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