At first glance, there is nothing unusual about the bulky bulldozer turning up soil at a testing site in central Israel, but as it pulled closer, it became clear: the driver's cabin is eerily empty.
This is the Robdozer, a fortified engineering vehicle manned remotely, and in this case, operated from a military expo halfway across the globe in Alabama.
Army engineers and military experts say that the Robdozer — the robotic version of Caterpillar's D9 bulldozer — is the future of automated combat.
The Israeli military has used D9 for years to carry out frontline tasks like trowelling roads for advancing troops, removing rubble and flattening terrain.
But since Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023 and later in Lebanon, the Israeli military has increasingly deployed this robotic version in a bid to enhance its field operations and reduce the risks to its troops.
"The idea is to eliminate the person from the cockpit of the dozer," said Rani, whose team at the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries developed the Robdozer.
During the Gaza war, the military has increasingly opted for the unmanned version, which can carry out a full range of tasks "even better than a human", said Rani, using his first name only for security reasons.
While such vehicles and other systems are currently operated by humans, future versions could be autonomous, raising ethical and legal concerns over the uncharted future of warfare being shaped by the Israeli military in the Gaza war.
'Changing the paradigm'
Israel's increasing use of advanced technology on the battlefield, from air defence systems to a broad range of AI-driven intelligence tools, has been well-documented but also criticised for inaccuracies, lack of human oversight and potential violations of international law.
Analysts say the growing Israeli deployment of the Robdozer reflects broader global trends towards automation in heavy combat vehicles, like remote-controlled personnel carriers that operate much like drones.
An Israeli military official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, told AFP that the army has been using "robotic tools for over a decade, but in very small numbers. Now it is being used in large-scale warfare".
Troops can now operate machinery without having to enter ‘enemy territory’, said the official.
Andrew Fox, a retired British army major and a research fellow at the London-based Henry Jackson Society, said the Israeli military was likely the first force to use remote-controlled combat machinery in an active war zone.
"It's a really big development" that is "changing the paradigm" of warfare, carrying out tasks as effectively but at a far reduced risk to personnel, he said.
"This is the future," said John Spencer, chair of urban warfare studies at the US military's Modern War Institute at West Point.
Many have been experimenting with it, but nobody has seen direct deployment into active modern combat," he added. "It is very unique."
