Israel defence industries are working on a futuristic battlefield scenario where armies use robotic weapons, operated by remote control on land, air and sea, without a trace of any human soldier anywhere on the battleground.
This concept, once a part of science fiction, could soon become a reality, what with self-detonating grenades, thinking bullets and robot warriors making humans on the battle frontline a thing of the past, daily Haaretz reported.
The first robotic systems are already being used by the Israel Defence Forces and other armies across the world, and only budgetary constraints seem to be keeping this away from becoming a reality, the report said.
But now, such a weaponry system could be in place in 2020s, the paper said.
For instance, a helicopter that spots suspicious movement on the ground would be able to relay a command to a drone to photograph the site, and transmit the picture in real time to troops on the ground, and to the command posts in the rear.
Soldiers manning the specialised warfare computers will then be able to mark their target by its coordinates and launch missiles with the help of lasers from dozens of kilometres away to be guided by GPS, ensuring accuracy and destruction of the target.