---
title: "DARPA’s “Squad X” Teams Up Soldiers With Scout Robots"
description: "DARPA assembled a team called Squad X that uses robots to scout out a battlefield before human soldiers engage in combat."
date: "2019-07-18"
modified: "2019-07-18"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/darpa-squadx-soldiers-scout-robots"
categories:
  - "DARPA"
  - "Military"
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "DARPA"
  - "military technology"
  - "robots"
  - "the digest"
---

# DARPA’s “Squad X” Teams Up Soldiers With Scout Robots

![DARPA assembled a team called Squad X that uses robots to scout out a battlefield before human soldiers engage in combat.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/darpa-squadx-soldiers-scout-robots.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: DARPA\</em\>*

## Human-Cyborg Relations

A new military hit squad uses both human and robot soldiers to scout out and storm a battlefield.

The so-called "Squad X," an experimental team assembled by the Pentagon's research division, DARPA, uses scouting robots to gather intel about an area before human infantry move in, [according to *The Verge*](<https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/18/18677437/darpa-squad-x-project-marines-drones-robots-ai-fog-of-war-caci-lockheed-martin-video-watch>). The human-machine symbiosis could indicate a shift in military strategy in which disposable robots are sent into dangerous situations first to make sure humans [have all the information](<https://futurism.com/darpa-shrimp-detect-enemy-subs>) they need before engaging.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgM7hbCNMmU

## Scouting Run

DARPA first started testing out Squad X in California last November, [according to a press release](<https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2018-11-30a>). The system depends on two main types of surveillance technology, according to *The Verge*, which allow the robots to detect hostile communication signals as well as physical targets like soldiers or drones.

The robots themselves are unarmed, though — human soldiers still need to go in and do [the actual fighting](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/darpa-brain-machine-interface-drone>), Squad X program manager Lt. Col. Phil Root told *The Verge*.

"The human is of course involved with any lethal action, but at this point, it’s about establishing superior situational awareness," he told the site.

**READ MORE:** [DARPA’s Squad X project pairs Marines and robots to eliminate the fog of war](<https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/18/18677437/darpa-squad-x-project-marines-drones-robots-ai-fog-of-war-caci-lockheed-martin-video-watch>) \[*The Verge*\]

**More on DARPA:** *[Military Pilots Can Control Three Jets at Once via a Neural Implant](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/jets-pilots-mind-control-darpa>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)