Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Unit (PMU) debuted a brand new war robot called Al Robot (The Robot) on November 1 against the ISIS forces currently besieged near Mosul.
Designed by two brothers from Baghdad, the unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) has a remotely operated 12.7 mm cannon equipped with thermal sights and side-mounted Russian-made 70 mm rockets, Mother board reported. This robot is still a human-piloted, remotely controlled machine.
Iraqi PMU tweeted
#Iraqi #PMU robot made combat debut today against #ISIS with thermal optic gun and rocket support for Iraqi special forces in #Mosul pic.twitter.com/7LSiNOqIp6
— Iraqi PMU English (@pmu_english) November 1, 2016
A PMU spokesperson told media that the deployment was a success and vehicle’s performance was better than anticipated.
According to a news video from The Baghdad post, Al Robot’s cannon can be angled 45 degrees up or down, and has full 360 degree rotation. Two drivers command the ISIS-killing machine- one for gunning and the other for driving. The Russsian-made rockets can hit targets up to three kilometers away.
“The combat robot is used in three primary missions,” the PMU spokesperson told Motherboard. “Nighttime hunter missions, daytime combat missions and all-day support role for any troops requiring it. Hunter operations utilize the very high quality thermal optical camera on the robot to find ISIS targets at night. The target information can be given to either our designated sniper or relayed to Iraqi central command for Iraqi Air Force F16 strike or Mi-35 gunship strike with ATAKA guided missiles.”
It’s the factor of fear ,which put Iraqi Army on backfoot and eventually forced them to abandon the city . ISIS took the control of Mosul with just 2,000 fearless fighters.
When the battle is between Al Robot, a beast without fear and emotions, and ISIS , a beast must definitely lose the game. Let’s hope it is ISIS
