Several militaries are currently working on a range of not only unmanned, but autonomous military vehicles. Israel this summer became the first to actually deploy such machines to active duty.

IDF spokespeople told Japanese media on Wednesday that since mid-July, fully-automated, self-driving vehicles have been patrolling the border of the Gaza Strip.

In addition to patrol vehicles, Israeli defense contractors are also developing autonomous assault units.

The robots currently in the field are unarmed, but future plans include equipping them with weapons as they are deployed to additional border regions.

The IDF is envisioning a future of mixed combat formations, always under the command of a human officer, but with robots being sent in first and providing strong fire support.

PHOTO: Illustrative only.