UNMANNED VEHICLES GO TO WAR

A two-day conference in May 1998 on unmanned vehicles gave a remarkabl e picture of the range of uses - and particularly for military purpose s - to which robot vehicles are being put. Reconnaissance aircraft wer e by far the most strongly represented, although there was a US Navy p aper looking at the future of ''uninhabited combat air vehicles'' (kee ping a man in the control loop). There were also presentations on unde rwater vehicles, target vehicles and sensors. This report summarizes t wo aerial and two underwater applications.