Very interesting discussions in this thread.

I have a question concerning the future of unmanned vehicles in warfare. UAV's are perceived as a military success in Afghanistan, and that trend will probably continue.
But what about ground based, unmanned, remotely operated vehicles? It's a well known military maxim that you need boots on the ground to occupy territory, and that means infantry. But could unmanned ground vehicles support or replace standard troops, especially supported by UAV's?

You don't need to worry about casualties and the morale of troops and people back home and it might even be cheaper than normal infantry – though I have no idea of the costs and logistics of unmanned vehicles compared to human soldiers.

So do you think unmanned ground vehicles will be a factor in warfare and perhaps even replace the 19-year old kid with a rifle?