The British Army will spend four weeks testing a range of prototype unmanned aerial and autonomous ground vehicles with the goal of reducing the danger to human troops during future combat.

The Autonomous Warrior experiment will look to test autonomous last-mile resupply, which represents a dangerous final approach to the combat zone, but is crucial to ensuring that soldiers have the food, fuel and ammo to keep them alive, the British Army said.

Other technologies that will be tested include surveillance, long-range and precision targeting, enhanced mobility, urban warfare and enhanced situational awareness.

The exercise will culminate in a battlegroup experiment where the best ideas and products will be tested in a simulated operational environment.

“Our troops now have the chance to test out a huge range of robotic kit in what will be the biggest exercise of its kind in our history,” said Gavin Williamson, the U.K.’s defense secretary. “This equipment could revolutionize our Armed Forces, keeping them safe and giving them the edge in an increasingly unstable world.”

The Autonomous Warrior project follows the Unmanned Warrior experiment where the Royal Navy demonstrated autonomous systems for diving, swimming and flying together to engage in surveillance, intelligence-gathering and mine countermeasures.

To contact the author of this article, email pbrown@globalspec.com