Reconnaissance robots' place on battlefields still unsettled.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew

* The fact that soldiers and Marines want small robots to perform reconnaissance and surveillance in battle zones--particularly urban environments where they can be used to peer into buildings and around corners--has been established.

There have been numerous urgent requirements coming from the field asking for them, and thousands of units have made their way to Iraq and Afghanistan.

But a permanent spot for the machines has not yet been engraved in stone.

Tactics, techniques and procedures for using them have been invented on the fly. The robots have all been commercial-off-the-shelf products that have performed well, but left the military with large logistics bills.

Doctrine that would allow the two ground services to formally make them standard pieces of equipment and programs of record has not been forthcoming.

"There are tasks that soldiers won't do right now without their robots," said Lt. Col. Stuart Hatfield, soldier systems and unmanned ground systems branch chief Army G-8. Cave and tunnel reconnaissance is one example. "A soldier doesn't want to grab a pistol and a flashlight and be back in Vietnam and get down in there and be a tunnel rat. They would rather send a robot."

Checkpoint security and explosive ordnance disposal are other dirty and dangerous jobs troops would rather perform with a robot, he said.

It is not as if the benefits of using robots for reconnaissance are a new idea. They were once part of the Army's plans a decade ago when it kicked off the now-defunct Future Combat Systems program. FCS was canceled in 2009 but its small unmanned autonomous ground vehicle, or SUGV, program survived. The $500 million program was ultimately canceled in 2011. It was envisioned as a reconnaissance robot to accompany small units.

Hatfield said the Army, along with the Marine Corps, has a desire to field a joint, multi-mission ground robot similar to SUGV, but so far they are only aspirations. He is waiting for requirements for a ground robot to come from the Army Training and Doctrine Command. When he has those documents in hand, then he can go out and compete with other Army programs for funding. However, he did not anticipate any money for such a program until the 2016 to 2020 budget cycle.

The Army has spent $730 million on ground robots, which were all pushed into the field through urgent need statements and rapid fielding initiatives. This all came from overseas contingency operations (OCO) funding.

"As everyone knows, that...