Inside the Robo-Cannon Rampage (Updated)

A South African robotic cannon went out of control, killing nine, "immediately after technicians had finished repairing the weapon," the Mail & Guardian reports.

A burst of explosive shells, lasting one-eighth of a second, from the barrel of the anti-aircraft gun killed nine soldiers and injured 15 others...

Explaining the circumstances around the incident, which happened last Friday, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota told South Africa's National Assembly that he training exercise had involved eight guns positioned 20m apart in a line facing north.

The day was the first on which the soldiers involved had used "live" ammunition in a training exercise... Each gun [the picture to the left is of a Chinese knock-off -- ed.] had a crew of four. The gun on which the incident occurred was the one on the far right, at the east end of the line.

"As all guns commenced firing, the gun on the far right ... had a stoppage.
This is something that happens from time to time. Technicians repaired this gun, while all the other guns continued firing. This is a very normal drill.

"As they continued firing, after the gun was fixed, it swung completely to the left, and one barrel fired off a burst of 15 to 20 shots in one-eighth of a second. The ... gun immediately to the left was hit.

"This fatal burst then killed or injured members of all the guns to the left. The effect was therefore that all of those killed or injured [were hit] from the right and lost right hands, or right legs, or lost their lives."

He confirmed the total number killed was nine, and 15 injured.

*Lekota said the eight guns had been used the day before, "and each one had successfully fired between 500 and 800 rounds each". *

He further explained the guns could be set on either "manual or electric firing mode". On the day, they had all been set on manual. This meant they were sighted on the target, and the barrel then clamped into position "so that the barrel should not move from side to side".

"When firing in electric mode, safety boundaries are computerised and the barrels are not clamped, but move within the boundaries set in advance."

UPDATE: Jim O'Halloran of Jane's Land-Based Air Defence is telling *New Scientist *that the incident was probably caused by "simple mechanical failure."

"Like many weapons these days you can fire this gun from a remote position,"
says O'Halloran, "but it's not a robotic weapon." While the gun is typically used with automated target-tracking systems, the decision to fire is left to the operator.

Okay, the last thing I feel like doing on a Friday afternoon is get into a semantic debate about what does or does not constitute a robotic system. However, we call remote-controlled machines like these robots -- and they don't automatically track and slew to targets, or automatically reload once their guns have been fired. Anyway...

"If a shell was jammed in the breech and the cordite then fired, it could set off the ammunition in the canisters," says O'Halloran. The force of that explosion could easily spin the turret around, he notes. "It's a very tragic accident, but it is not a robot gone out of control."

"I
think it is bad luck more than anything else, the shells move through the gun so fast you only have to be a fraction out for something to go wrong," O'Halloran says, adding that weapons are usually subject to rigorous tests to try and ensure that they rarely, if ever, malfunction.

The
Mark 5 model used by the South African army, as well as forces around the world was first produced in 1985 and is well known in the industry.
"I've never heard of this kind of incident before," says O'Halloran,
"and I think it is unlikely to happen again."

While we're waiting to find out, Matt Armstrong would like you all to fill out a survey on 'bots on the battlefield.

(High five: WH)

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