I’ve mused before about the utility of video games as a recruitment tool for the army before. Australia’s armed forces are certainly aware of their appeal to gamers, propping up recruitment booths at EB Expo for the last few years.
But Russia is being a bit more direct than that. In a report from the state-funded broadcaster RT, deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin tried to encourage Wargaming’s fanbase to consider another form of tanking.
“We need no tankers now, we need World of Tanks players,” Rogozin tweeted, according to a RT translation. The remark followed the news that a Russian defence contractor was working on plans to enable remote controls for the T-90, a mainstay of Russia’s vehicular armoury.
The technology would enable the T-90 to be controlled from a distance of 3 to 5 kilometres. RT also reports that Rogozin has quipped about future armies being filled with “bespectacled nerds” that would wipe the floor with “handsome athletes who fight on a lower technological level”.
The future of Russia’s army as Rogozin sees it: Otacon.
Comments
9 responses to “Russia’s Deputy PM: Hey World Of Tanks Players, Drive Our Tanks Instead”
Reminds me of Marine Doom
Except WOT players are ARCADE, that means they play in 3rd person and unrealistic combat. You would need to convince them to start liking SIMULATOR tank games like Blaze of war or T34 vs Tiger etc….
Warthunder does have a SIM tank mode though, wish there was a game that made that mode its MAIN thing, (other then the singleplayer options).
Arcade physics aside, it’s possible the new remote controlled T90s may have enough cameras mounted on them to generate a third-person view around the tank. The technology for that exists in cars already with 3D parking assistance and blind spot displays.
Actually players of WOT’s arcade 3rd person style would be more perfectly suited than players from realistic 3D first person tank games. You don’t need to ‘simulate’ what a real tank crew would see and feel in combat to be a successful ‘drone’ tank commander. Who needs 1st person view? With information from aerial drones, satellites and/or the tank’s own systems it won’t be that difficult to present an overhead map that represent a clearer view of the battlefield & show all of the known enemy locations. All the commanders need to do is point and click on the icons represented on the map. (Just like in WoT).
One of the main weakness of a tank is its limited field of view of the battlefield, so instead of giving an FPS interface to the tank drone commanders, just give them an RTS interface.
With current technology, and controlling the tank remotely, you could get a third person view with cameras.
of course there’s the physics to consider, but there’s no doubt that they’d receive training.
Pretty impressive considering the sheer mass of the T90, must be one hell of a receiver unit!!!!!
The weight of the tank would not factor in the receiver unit. Example: Mytbusters often remote controls real cars and trucks just by splicing the receiver of a toy RC car on them. I think distance and hardening against battlefield conditions (including hacking attempts by the enemy) would be more of a factor to its size.
I didn’t make my point very clear did I lol, I mostly meant the thickness off the steel for receiving the signal but I guess the body/chassis could easily be used almost like an antenna. I’m clutching at straws here, I need to do some research, sounds cool and very scary at the same time
I wouldn’t call the average WoT player (which, assuming a spread of levels across the player base would be about Tier 4-5 ) a great tank commander…or a great team player…or someone you want in a situation that involves any form of civilians in combat zones…