https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aqCmX5dMYHg

I find mules quite rugged creatures and smart in having hidden theyre war-machine like talents for so long. But no longer.

Also, rhinos would kick Junebugs ass!

wheels and tank treads for roads, for going into a building you need feet.

Actually, you don’t.

I think this is definitely for rugged terrains.

However, that only matters if you are in the middle of nowhere with effectively no supply lines, and are expected to stay there for the rest of your life. I think the US Military doctrine in that case is to call for backup and get the hell out.

Assuming you have supply lines, the fact that these things run on gas and can’t self-repair isn’t all that important, as even if they are “attractive targets to disable, consequently bring their platoons to a halt with a large supply of now immobile equipment”, the response is to have someone strafe the area that the disabling shot came from, and then have the supply line bring up repair and replacement matériel, not sit around with your thumb up your ass going “Well boys, I guess they got us, time to call off the war”.

The point being, IMHO, that technological adaption can be rapid when the utility emerges.  In 1993, people considered the web a curiosity, but something only fringe nerds would need or could use, but a few short years later it was ubiquitous. (I remember how many people got news about 9/11 over e-mail, the web and forum postings, fr’ex.)
What hamstrung it’s adoption and development was the requirements of both the governments involved and the commercial environment in which it was fostered (as well as the scientific community’s politics and dynamics at that time).

I suppose this explains the name of the Boston company “Massive Dynamics” that’s featured in Fringe.

Although this is a long way from actual use on the (battle)field, If ever.
And all they have to do is leave one malfunctioned robot behind, and it will be a waste of years of research and $$$$$$ once the enemy reverse engineers it.I still wonder how stupid people feel about spending a jillion US$ on R&D for that stealth drone only to have Iran take it over and land it intact. Of course with stealth technology, its pretty much obsolete once its deployed. Maybe it will be the same for these DARPA pack mules… By the time they actually start using it, there will already be new and better ones in development.

Robots HAVE become a ubiquitous part of our world….most people just don’t recognize them because they’re not anthropomorphicized or are so dedicated to one function we think of them as simple machines.  When I was a kid, robots building cars was the stuff of science fiction, not fact.  Military units going into battle with UAVs is not standard stuff, drones serve the military in a host of applications.  Sending in robots to remove mines, defuse bombs or enter a fire-zone to dismantle defenses is becoming common.

There was a time when tanks were considered unwieldy, too expensive and too clumsy to be used in practical warfare.  Could this thing be super-vulnerable?   It certainly looks like it. So were tanks, once.  A mobile all-terrain self-impelled platform that could carry additional weapons, ammunition, electronics packages, medical supplies and also act as muscle, a towing device and who knows how many other applications?   I can easily see the lessons learned here paying off.

The problem with saying that the first 30 years of flight had big strides is getting everyone to agree when that actually WAS.  If you mean from the first powered flight by the Wright Brothers, then yes.  But by the time THEY did it, people had been attempting to build similar devices for 100-150 years.  

Right now I’m reading Erik Larson’s “Thunderstruck”, which is partly about Marconi’s invention of radio telegraphy…and it’s stunning how in 1901 no one can see how it would be useful or how in 1905, when transatlantic transmissions are being tested, no one can see it having broad applications or have any idea how dramatically it will be adopted, less than 30 years later.

Our “flying machines” however cover great distances and do things that people/animals can’t do on their own.  This, not so much.

And in terms of the evolution of aviation, the first 30 years make some pretty big strides.

“The ‘flying machines’ we’ve seen so far are pretty crude. Big, noisy, brainless, and so far unarmored. We can of course assume some level of improvement in all those areas down the road, but for now let’s assume they’ll be at least a mild nuisance to have with a unit of troops….they’re at least somewhat prone to mechanical failures; and they might as well have a big bullseye painted on the side with chunky block letters saying “Shoot Me, Please!”"

We’re looking at a prototype here. I’m quite sure these will become a ubiquitous part of our world, both military and non, in a not-too-distant future. Like ‘flying machines’ did…