Soon, fighter robots to protect Indian borders

India may soon come out with its series of robotic soldiers to man difficult war zones and save loss of lives along borders.

With futuristic warfare in mind, India is working to develop robotic soldiers as part of its efforts to beef up its unmanned fighting capabilities, joining a select group of countries in this endeavour.

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Under the project being undertaken by DRDO, robots would be developed with very high level of intelligence to enable them to differentiate between a friend and a foe.

They can then be deployed in difficult warfare zones, like the Line of Control (LoC), saving human lives.

“We are going to work for robotic soldiers,” DRDO chief Avinash Chander told PTI in an interview. “We are going to look for very high level of intelligence in it than what we are talking of today... It is a new programme and a number of labs are already working in a big way on robotics.”

The newly-appointed DRDO chief listed the project for development of robotic soldiers as one of his “priority thrust areas”, saying that “unmanned warfare in land and air is the future of warfare. Initially, the robotic soldier may be assisting the man."

He said many new technologies have to be developed such as “miniature communication, materials, cognitive technologiesand interaction with human. Already five to six countries are actively working on it. They have not yet developed it fully but they are in advanced stages.”