The US military will have more robot soldiers on the battlefield than real ones by 2025, a top British intelligence expert has claimed. John Bassett, a security consultant with a 20-year career at GCHQ, believes deadly combat robots are rapidly becoming "a reality" of modern day warfare. These state-of-the art military units will consist of human soldiers and robots and are aimed at maximizing performance on future battlefields. Combat robots will rapidly become an inherent part of US fighting forces within the next 10-15 years, defense experts say. Washington is apparently seeking to gain military edge over China, Russia and other rivals investing in research and development of robotic systems.

The Pentagon has awarded an $11 million contract to build a'combined-arms squad' of human and robotic capabilities. Under the new agreement, Six3 Advanced Systems will'design, develop, and validate' prototypes of the new system, which is expected to be completed by mid-2019. It comes as experts have increasingly warned that robotic weapons will soon play a much larger role in warfare than they already do, and could even overtake human presence on the battlefield in the next decade. The Pentagon has awarded an $11 million contract to build a'combined-arms squad' of human and robotic capabilities. Under the new agreement, Six3 Advanced Systems will'design, develop, and validate' prototypes of the new system.