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The military is always looking for every way possible to increase mission effectiveness and reduce human casualties, to gain the advantage over their enemy. Replacing humans with machines is one strategy being used with great success. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are being operated from a pilot sitting on the ground miles away, so they can remain out of harms way. These Aircraft have proven to be more effective than a pilot operated aircraft because they have a greater range and they eliminate the need to put a military member at risk. This website and video shows just how effective these unmanned aircraft can be at gathering battlefield data and relaying to soldiers on the ground to give them a great tactical advantage.
This video shows a team of Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) soldiers using a robot to defuse an explosive, while at a safe distance. Every time one of these devices crashes or gets blown up, a human life has basically been saved. The weapon of choice for the insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan today is the Improvised Explosive Device. These devices can be remotely detonated by a trigger man hundreds of yards away with a cell phone. Diffusing one of these devices hidden on the side of the road can be extremely dangerous for an EOD troop and these robots are designed to do the dangerous job for them. A protective explosion suit is no match for a two 500 lb. bombs wired together and buried underneath a road way. That's when they call in the robots who can cruise right up to the device risk free and deactivate it or place a detonation charge. The sooner the device is cleared the traffic can move safely again. These robots have been proven essential in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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