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In The Matrix trilogy, the Machines took control of everything, but were unable to attack from long range. Yet, humans did have long range weapons:

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On the contrary, sentinels needed to be very close to the target to make a hit.

Why were the future machines not designed to make long range shots? They were weak, but they were large in number. Their attacks seemed very less powerful, (keeping in mind that they controlled the whole human race).

enter image description here

Gallifreyan
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nobalG
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1 Answers1

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The Sentinels did have a "ranged weapon" known as a Tow Bomb. It floated freely and hence could be flung over long distances.

This allows them to remain outside EMP range but still attack their prey with a near-100% kill rate.

enter image description here

As to why the machines didn't use explosives all the time, it's worth noting that Zion is a complete sham. After the humans are killed, the place (and its attendant hovercraft) are cleaned up ready for the next group of 'discoverers'. Blowing it to pieces would just make that job harder.

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Valorum
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  • Still, it floated, but they can't lock their target which is parallel to their sight and plain of earth, , as you said, they floated, Consider present missiles, they are far more accurate. – nobalG Dec 24 '16 at 11:47
  • @nobalG - Think of it from the perspective of the machines. Their entire army consists of melee-infantry but periodically they use the equivalent of a sniper rifle when they have long-range line-of-sight on their prey. – Valorum Dec 24 '16 at 11:49
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    Zion was also underground, and the human-operated hovercraft spent as much time as they could flying through tunnels/sewers for cover. Using explosives in an underground tunnel network is a good way to cause a cave-in, which might also destroy the pursuing sentinels and cause structural damage to anything that happened to be above that point. The Machines would likely want to avoid that risk whenever possible, and so usually resorted to close combat techniques that limited the scope of collateral damage. – Steve-O Dec 24 '16 at 15:44