Very true, Soviet (and now Russian) doctrine has long prioritized a lower weight and size. The Soviets were (I believe) the first to use an automatic loader for

Very true, Soviet (and now Russian) doctrine has long prioritized a lower weight and size. The Soviets were (I believe) the first to use an automatic loader for the gun to reduce the crew size from 4 to 3, and thus reduce the tank's size and weight. Soviet tanks are consistently in the 45 ton range as a result, while Western tanks tend to be over 60 tons, and tend to lack autoloaders (a notable exception is the French Leclerc). Soviet doctrine called for tanks to be smaller to present a smaller target, and provide better operational mobility. For example, there were many bridges in Warsaw pact countries designed so that a T-72 tank could cross, but a heavier Western tank would cause the bridge to collapse. Western doctrine, on the other hand, tends to eschew the idea of an autoloader for a variety of reasons. Historically, the problems with an autoloader are reduced survivability (having all the tank rounds together in a carousel or conveyor system means if the tank is penetrated all the rounds could cook off and kill everyone) and I believe earlier autoloaders offered worse performance than a skilled human loaders. Autoloaders have since improved in performance and survivability, but the other reason Western doctrine has discouraged the idea of using an autoloader is the reduced situational awareness from losing a crew member. Whenever the loader isn't actually loading, they are an extra pair of eyes that can be looking for targets or potential threats. There's a decent explanation of all this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0x-8NheU1E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0x-8NheU1E I think that will be the biggest challenge with unmanned armored vehicles, the reduced situational awareness. You can put all the cameras you want on the tops of the tank, a remote operator will have to deal with the limited bandwidth (can't have full 60fps 4K resolution in 360 degrees simultaneously on a satellite link) and increased latency. At first this can be helped by using it as a fire support vehicle for infantry, where the infantry can be their eyes and ears. Eventually there can be enhanced automation to help reduce the workload of remote operators (not automatically firing, but having the system continuously scan around it and tracking the movement of all visible people and vehicles so the operator doesn't have to) and fusing that data with that of other tanks and even UAVs overhead.