Image of a Ukrainian soldier controlling a turret with a steam deck
In recent weeks, photos and information on how Ukrainian army has released Valve's Steam Deck console for use remotely as controller of a artillery turret.
Codenamed "Saber", the system it is designed to be used to place a weapon on the front line without exposing the operator using it to enemy fire. Valve certainly hadn't anticipated this Steam Deck use case and might disagree.
This new mode of employment of the console as a "type of weapon" developed by the Ukrainians caught everyone's attention.
And it is that now the Ukrainian Defense Forces are using a new piece of hardware and the enemies it targets will not be virtual. Ukrainian soldiers use Steam Deck, to remotely control a large caliber machine gun turret. The information shared by the account of Facebook ТРО Media indicates that operators of the Ukrainian army can use the system (called "Sabre") to monitor, aim and fire from a distance of up to 500 meters.
The images show various aspects of its design and soldiers deploying it for field testing. In one of the seven images, a remote operator is clearly seen holding a Steam Deck, with the machine gun turret in the background.
Steam deck being used as a weapon
The Linux powered device is being used to control the machine gun remotely and even though in the pictures you can see that the screen is blank so we can't see what the interface looks like but since the gun has a camera, the stream will likely be viewable on the Steam Deck; it could be used to monitor the battlefield, aim at targets and fire the weapon.
On the other hand, it is also speculated that because the turret is automated, the Steam Deck's method could be geared towards marking targets and letting the weapon do the rest.
The information also indicates that the Saber system can handle a variety of calibers, from light machine guns firing anti-tank shells to AK-47. It looks like it can be used for both stationary operations and vehicle mounting. In addition, the system would also be capable of defeating low-flying enemy drones.
"This device removes a person from the line of fire, which allows us to provide [fire] support without being a priority target and without drawing 'enemy's fire on ourselves." '. The use of the Steam Deck in such a scenario has drawn criticism online, with some fearing that it could give ideas to other military or paramilitary groups, or even ill-intentioned individuals who sometimes indulge in murderous firefights (for example, the usual cases of mass shootings). shootings in the United States). But why use a Steam Deck for such a thing?
This is not the first time that gaming hardware has been used for military purposes. In 2018, the US Navy launched the USS Colorado, a Virginia-class submarine that uses an Xbox 360 controller to control its periscope-like photonic masts. Controllers have also been used to control drones and UAVs.
For those who are unaware of the Steam Deck, they should know that this is a video game console, similar to the Nintendo Switch, what characterizes this console is that it is highly customizable, unlike its main portable competition, Nintendo Switch.
Another of the key points of the Steam Deck is that it runs Linux natively, which by this simple fact allows a wide range of options (including the one we talk about here in this article) for anyone who wants to use it for purposes other than which Valve has programmed to do, and any gamer who wants to can even install Windows on their Steam Deck.
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