Fort Campbell, KY. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Soldiers with the 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell recently held live fire exercises with high-tech, autonomous robotic targets..
“These are autonomous robotic targets you’re able to shoot live ammunition at, that can on their own, conduct different scenarios and it greatly enhances your combat marksman capability,” said Paul Money, Special Projects Manager with Marathon Targets, the company behind the technology.
Money added that the technology has been around for a while, but it is new to the Army and to 5th Group.
Marathon Target’s website calls autonomy the enabling technology which brings the targets to life. Manual (joystick) control of moving targets requires continuous human supervision.
The Marathon robotic targets drive autonomously across the entire range, are aware of their surroundings and communicate with each other to synthesize a convincing and challenging tactical environment.
Many soldiers run into the situation that the first time they encounter a realistic moving target is in combat and the training with the moving targets helps change all that. The soldiers are able to shoot the robots and get something that’s going to mimic what they will see in combat, so they are better prepared when it does happen.
A public affairs officer with 5th Group Public Affairs talked about the importance of the survivability of soldiers and taking care downrange, assuring they come back safely. “It was time to invest our resources to make sure that we are delivering world class training to our servicemen and women,” he said.
5th Group at Fort Campbell is the first Special Forces unit to officially adopt the new technology.
