Life (and death) on MAARS
1 min read
Qinetiq, part of the UK Ministry of Defence until, first, its privatisation in 2002 and then its flotation in 2006, has announced that its North American arm has supplied the first fighting robot to the US military.
Named MAARS (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System), it is the first fully modular ground robot system capable of providing a measured response including non-lethal, less-lethal and even lethal stand-off capabilities.
MAARS is an agile, combat-ready robot that is remotely controlled by the operator who can be over one kilometre away.
One of the most innovative capabilities of MAARS is the ability to apply non-lethal force by projecting the operator’s voice through mounted loudspeakers, or alternatively to pulse a green, eye-safe laser to dazzle people. In addition, its two-way communication features allow the operator to interact from a safe distance. It can launch 40mm less-lethal ammunition, such as bean bags, smoke, star clusters and pepper spray, and lethal ammunition. If lethal action is required, an operator can launch 40mm high-explosive grenades or engage with the powerful M240B medium machine gun firing 7.62mm ammunition.
MAARS comes with tracks that can traverse all terrains, including stairs, and it is also capable of using wheels to increase speed and further reduce noise. The robot’s turret system is able to support a drop-in manipulator arm, multiple types of weapons and a wide range of sensor packages. Additional features include up to seven cameras with multi-modal capabilities. In the MAARS weapons-configured system, the operator always sees where the weapon is pointed in relation to himself and other friendly forces.
