centric autonomous ground vehicles. Each killer vehicle would carry internally (in a “marsupial” manner) up to five small network-centric autonomous “hunter/observer” ground vehicles; as the situation dictated the ground hunters/ observers could be replaced or augmented with aerial hunters/observers. All UGV would be capable of operating day and night under all weather conditions. The Hunter-Killer team would be able to operate in rural and urban terrain and swim across slowly flowing rivers. Initially, the Hunter-Killer team would be programmed by humans at a base station. For intra-Hunter-Killer team communications purposes, the UGVs would be tied together through a local wireless network. Information gathered by each unmanned vehicle could be passed to others, including updating and modifying the human-provided input as long as those modifications remain within programmed hard decision rules. The ambush vehicles would have sophisticated sensors that detect humans or other vehicles and would be allowed to take evasive actions, as necessary. The Hunter-Killer team would be capable of conducting a round-trip distance between start point and ambush site up to at least 300 km. Speed of movement would be variable depending on the terrain but would be capable of reaching at least 120 km/h on roads or in open terrain. At the ambush site the medium-sized killers would launch small hunter/observer UGVs to provide area security and detailed information on approaching people and vehicles. Once the stealthy hunter/observers were in position the killers would go on power standby. The Hunter-Killer team would be able to remain on site in standby mode without human interaction for at least 30 days. When hunters/observers sensed that humans or vehicles were approaching they would automatically activate higher-power sensors and ATRs to confirm the identity of an enemy force. This information would be sent to the killers, who would move from power standby to full alert. Based on data from the hunters/observers, the killers would be able to calculate the size of the enemy force. If the enemy force were too large to ambush it would be allowed to pass, otherwise the Hunter-Killer team would risk being overpowered by the enemy and being destroyed. The killers would also determine which actions needed to be taken by an appropriately sized enemy to trigger the ambush. They would notify the human base station of actions about to happen, as programmed. Depending on the rules of engagement a human in the base station may have to signal approval. When the ambush was triggered the killers would launch an overwhelming and precisely targeted lethal response using onboard targeting systems: The general rule is “one shot, one kill.” In addition to onboard weapons, the killers would be able to automatically send fire commands to the base station or directly into the appropriate battlefield C2 networks, resulting in massive indirect fires being provided. Reactions to counterattack would be dependent on the situation but would likely initially include calling for additional indirect fire and maneuvering one or more killers to achieve a tactical and firepower advantage over the enemy. The killers would also be provided with decision criteria that would allow them to immediately move from the ambush site to a remote assembly area to await further instructions from the base station. Even if not attacked by the enemy, moving out of the ambush site quickly would be required. If time permitted, the hunters/observers would rejoin and board the killers for transportation to the next mission. Otherwise, the hunters/observers would go on standby mode or self-destruct, as programmed. Maintenance reliability would be very high. In addition to being able to self-diagnose maintenance problems the Hunter-Killer team will have rudimentary self-repair.

Basic Capabilities. The unmanned Hunter-Killer team would need a sophisticated local and global terrain-sensing capability. The team’s sensors could read local terrain, vegetation, obstacles, and other information in great detail, and store this information for downloading to allow updating the global database. It would need sensors, range finders, and ATR that could accurately identify enemy forces and distinguish friend from foe from noncombatant. It would need highly sophisticated communications packages and local area networks to pass information among all necessary UGVs in the unit. It would also need to be part of a secure wide area network to communicate with its base station and other unmanned and manned systems, as necessary. It would need longer-range communications and relays to allow it to contact a distant base station or directly into C2 networks to receive human approval to take certain actions, as required, and to request additional support. Examples include passing on the arrival of a new ally on the battlefield that has similar vehicles to the enemy, the anticipation of noncombatant movements in the area, or the signing of a cease-fire.

UGV–Human Interface. There would be very little human interface with the Hunter-Killer team once launched on its mission. The Hunter-Killer team would essentially be autonomous except when programmed human intervention and communications must occur.

The Hunter-Killer team would also be a step beyond where each robot has self-diagnostic capabilities, because each would also do some self-repair. The hunters/observers’ marsupial UGV, for example, could actually do field repairs on the Hunters-Killers or themselves or vice versa. Another concept is that maintenance could be conducted between missions, in safe areas, by other highly specialized robots. Because of this, it is anticipated that a small team of mechanics and technicians (as few as 10) could maintain up to 5 Hunter-Killer teams.

Table 2-6 lists basic capabilities for the Hunter-Killer team.