Valve’s Steam Deck is making headlines in Ukraine because the a brand new instrument for the Ukrainian military. To make clear: a latest posting demonstrated a remote-controlled machine gun turret that appears to be powered (or at the least managed by) the standard transportable PC gaming handheld system.
Photos shared on ТРО Меdia‘s Fb account (h/t GamingOnLinux) present numerous facets of the turret design and troopers deploying it for testing in a discipline. In one of many seven photos, a distant operator is seen clearly holding a shiny Steam Deck, with the machine gun turret within the background. It might be much more fascinating to see what the distant management interface appears like, however maybe the interface/UI is a navy secret.
TPO Media shared some transient background info on the distant machine gun turret alongside the pictures. Referred to as ‘Sablya,’ the turret is an “automated distant managed” system, which means that the turret would possibly function with a point of autonomy. It is attainable that, in addition to guide distant monitoring, aiming, and firing, the Sablya could possibly be programmed with the Steam Deck to mark targets and let the gun do its job as rapidly and effectively as attainable.
TPO Media shared some particulars about how the Sablya might be operated remotely from as much as half a kilometer (500m) away — which is sort of one-third of a mile, conserving the operator out of scorching zones. The turret looks as if it is going to be used for each stationary operation and car mounting.
Moreover, the Sablya is ready to defeat low-flying enemy drones, in accordance with the TRO Media submit — which might be pivotal now that Russia is claimed to be quietly buying extra of these kinds of weapons from China.
We discovered some footage exhibiting the identical Sablya turret system in motion (scroll all the way down to the reply Tweet) — you possibly can see the machine gun firing, however there’s solely a quick glimpse of the Steam Deck.
Lastly, TPO Media says that Sablya isn’t restricted to the weapon being demonstrated within the photos and video. The system/chassis can accommodate quite a lot of anti-personnel and anti-tank weaponry.