Russia confirms its armed robot tank was in Syria

via C4isrnet.

 And, according to statements published today in Russia’s state-owned RIA Novosti, Deputy Minister of Defense Yuriy Borisov confirmed that the country tested Uran-9 robots in Syria.

“This is where it gets interesting. The exact RIA quote is as follows: ‘В военном ведомстве заявили, что отлично зарекомендовали себя в Сирии роботизированные комплексы ‘Уран-6’, предназначенные для разминирования местности, и ‘Уран-9’ — многофункциональные комплексы разведки и огневой поддержки подразделений на поле боя’,” says Samuel Bendett, a research analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses. “Verbatim translation: The defense ministry announced that the robotic Uran-6 complexes designed for mine clearance were well-proven in Syria, as well as Uran-9 multifunctional reconnaissance and fire support system.”

While observers have written about the Uran-6 mine-clearing robot in Syria, and Russian media has even released video of the Uran-6 in action, the Uran-9 would be an altogether different phenomenon. Bendett says that, is all his time following Russia’s use of robots in Syria, there was only a single instance that purported to be the Uran-9, an instance that under further scrutiny was revealed to be not the robot, but a blurry photograph of a souped-up Soviet battle tank, the T-55 MBT, in Syrian government hands.

“In reality, Uran-9 tests in Syria should have garnered major attention from all major Russian news outlets, given how proud Russian are of their remote-controlled tank,” says Bendett. “Still, such tests may have taken place in secret – the way Russians supposedly tested Soratnik UGV in ‘near-combat conditions.’ Such ‘conditions’ may or may not have referred to Syria proper, although officially Russians announced tests at temperatures exceeding +30 Celsius, which many thought means Syria. Such tests may in fact have taken place in Russia’s own Ryn Desert - we tend to forget that Russia actually has a real desert near Kazakh border, on the Caspian Sea shore, with extreme heat of up to +45 Celsius.”

The statement from Borisov is clearer about the theater in which the robot was tested, but doesn’t resolve any of the questions about why no observers have spotted the Uran-9 yet, and why Russian media itself hasn’t heralded the fighting power of the robot. Indeed, when it comes to listing the capabilities of the machine, RIA is upfront.

Story here. 

Hmm.

The US Army is desperate to catch up to the Russians and get an "armored wingman" in the field as soon as possible.

But I have to wonder.

Is the juice worth the squeeze?

Would we better served with upgraded Abrams and more powerful guns on our IFVs instead? 

I know everyone thinks they're cool but I can't help but think these will be easy targets for human gunners...at least at this stage of their development.