Combat Walkers: From The Pages Of Fantasy To Reality - Alternative View

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Combat Walkers: From The Pages Of Fantasy To Reality - Alternative View
Combat Walkers: From The Pages Of Fantasy To Reality - Alternative View

Video: Combat Walkers: From The Pages Of Fantasy To Reality - Alternative View

Video: Combat Walkers: From The Pages Of Fantasy To Reality - Alternative View
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A formidable combat robot, striding across the battlefield to the sound of machine guns and the roar of cannons, would delight any connoisseur of military equipment. However, in reality, tanks and aircraft are still the kings of battle, and for good reason. But our friends from the Eksmo publishing house decided to imagine what the combat vehicles of the future would look like and what benefits they could bring on the battlefields.

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Fighting robots have long fascinated the minds of science fiction writers, but their real embodiment is strikingly different from the mechanical colossus that we see in science fiction films. The reasons why in the modern world there are no walking combat vehicles described in the books of the BattleTech series or the recently published novel by Oleg Divov "Tech Support" are very obvious. The walker is unstable, it can "get entangled in its own feet", but a tank in tracks or a car in wheels never gets confused. A two-legged robot can be hit in the leg and lose mobility, while a tank, in principle, even on one track, is able to slowly crawl away from the battlefield. A walking machine will never be able to carry as much armor as is hung on a tank, and even if it can, it will have to be distributed in a thin layer over the entire body and "limbs". As a result,even the most armored robot can be pierced with a heavy machine gun - not to mention cannon weapons.

And after all, almost all of the above arguments are absolutely true. Modern military thought has taken a different path. Military designers build tanks as if guided by the old anecdote about the crocodile Gena - "it's good that you are so flat and green." And the main thing is that there is nothing to blame them for: the equipment should really protrude as little as possible above the ground, the armor (ideally) should be concentrated in the front part, which is recommended to meet the enemy, and the geometry of the hull is made in such a way that even the most "The driver spent all his energy before he could turn the tank over.

But let's still fantasize about what those walking combat robots with a pilot inside can be created for. And so that no fantastic assumptions, like monsters crawling out of the ocean or the need to fight angels flying from heaven.

On my own two feet

And yet, why has nature awarded most animals with walking legs? Legs are easy. In terms of nature, it is much easier than wheels, although the dream of wheeled dogs has not gone anywhere. Legs give great cross and allow you to develop high speed on land. Look at a cheetah that can accelerate to 110 km / h over rough terrain, which only rare buggies are capable of today. In addition, on two or four legs, you can climb where no tank will enter.

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So it turns out that the first clear advantage is cross-country ability. Currently, support for infantry in mountainous, highly rugged or maximum swampy terrain is possible only with the help of helicopters, ATVs (and even then not everywhere), and … cavalry. All. If you add even not very armored walking robots to this arsenal, it can greatly change the whole picture of the battle. Such a robot will go where “Makar did not drive calves,” and will bring with it enough weapons, and will be useful in case of need to evacuate the wounded.

So we need a light, two-legged machine with an excellent gyroscope and a well-trained neural network. The neural network, in particular, will help her to control her legs - with the help of cameras, it is most clearly looking for a place where this very leg can be placed, and where not. This gives us the perfect Robot Ranger for support. Given the nature of the clashes and the weapons used, heavy armor in this case will do more harm than good. In most cases, a walking machine needs to rely on a maneuver or a hasty retreat, and not try to "push through" the armor of the enemy entrenched in the "green".

By the way, it is these robots that are represented in all of our beloved Star Wars universe. This is not about the walking AT-AT giants from the fifth episode, but about small light AT-STs, who so ingloriously got kicks on the wooded satellite of Endor from Princess Leia, Chewbacca and local cute-looking aborigines. However, this is already the cost of a scenario that requires the victory of good. In reality, stormtroopers supported by such scouts could become virtually invincible to the rebels.

And, for sure, walkers will be very necessary when earthlings finally begin to expand other planets. In the case of rugged Martian terrain, low gravity and no roads, walkers will prove to be the most versatile and convenient means of transportation. Wherever the rover wheel does not roll, the Martian support robot will certainly walk.

So Oleg Divov in "Tech Support" has an ideal combat walker - a technique for fighting in the African wilds. Bushes, mud, difficult terrain, wherever it is impossible to use tanks and armored personnel carriers, walkers can pass. And the main thing is that they can do it quickly enough. Well, kick a crocodile caught under a hot leg, if necessary.

I can see everything from above

The second problem with walking robots is that they are tall. Here it is worth figuring out whether this is a problem. Yes, a tall tank is easier to get into and can be seen from afar. And here there is an important "but". A huge plus of a walking robot in reality is that it can be either high or low. It's about being able to sit on your feet.

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Does a tank need the ability to get taller? Still as necessary, the only question is that you can't lift the tank. However, the designers tried at one time to make a giraffe out of a crocodile. You can also recall the English wedge "Mantis" (praying mantis), capable of raising a part of the hull for firing from a higher position. In Germany, at the end of the seventies of the last century, there was a Panther program to install a special rocket launcher on Leopard-1 tanks and BMP Marder-1. A tower rose from the hull, ending at the top with an installation with anti-tank missiles.

And here we have the opposite situation. The combat walking robot already has a great height, which can be reduced at any time simply by squatting and folding its limbs. The fact that he should be able to do this is indisputable, because it will be problematic for the crew to constantly climb to a height of even 6-10 meters and descend back down the ladder. In addition, in the field, repairs may be required, and doing it at a height, like a circus gymnast, is a dubious pleasure. So it turns out that under certain conditions of battle, a walking robot is able to realize its potential much more efficiently than a squat tank. Yes, on the one hand, you climb into your cockpit along the ladder, and on the other hand, there is a wonderful, almost perfect view and a great opportunity for tactical maneuver. Again, one cannot but recall the novel by Oleg Divov,which very faithfully depicts the possible use of such combat vehicles. In low bush, being able to look from above will help much more than any of the radars. By the way, everything is also more than in order with the radars at the Izbushka walker.

I run and shoot

It is worth noting that in almost any design variant, a walking manned robot will be armored much lighter than modern tanks. It is very difficult to argue with this, but I would like to say a few words of support in favor of walkers.

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Tank battles, as they were presented in the second half of the last century, when tens and hundreds of armored vehicles will rush towards each other, firing on the move, are unlikely to become widespread. In modern local conflicts, tanks are a weapon of support for the infantry, and much more often they are used for shooting from ambushes and specially prepared shelters. In such a situation, a walker with the ability to "sit down", reduce the visible surface and expose the enemy to the most armored sections of the hull will no longer lose to a battle tank.

Among other things, a smaller reservation can be very helpful at the "weigh-in". Modern tanks cannot be transported by helicopters - too much armor, too heavy. If you make the walker easier, then there will immediately be an opportunity for additional tactical maneuvers - to transport the walker from place to place under the helicopter fuselage in order to get a support car in the right place. Again, this advantage was tried to reflect in the novel "Tech Support" Divov. The ability to simultaneously fire at enemy helicopters and equipment, while moving at high speed and making evasive maneuvers is worth a lot. Most modern anti-tank missiles do not really like it when the target makes sharp jumps of several meters and leaves the zone of destruction in zigzags. So getting on such a walker is easy only in theory,and to hit such a moving target from a tank cannon is a difficult task at all.

Actor of a difficult role

Based on all of the above, one can imagine realistic ways of using walking armored vehicles. Of course, in the near future it is not worth waiting for the replacement of tanks with walkers, at least for economic reasons - tanks are cheaper to build.

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But as a separate, albeit expensive and rather highly specialized combat unit - why not. Possibility of shooting from a great height, resizing if necessary, increased cross-country ability compared to all other equipment. All these are important advantages, and if used correctly, the walker will become an almost irreplaceable vehicle in battle.

Mikhail Kotov