Let Slip the Robot Dogs of War – The United States and China appear locked in a race to weaponize four-legged robots for military applications.
https://www.wired.com/story/let-slip-the-robot-dogs-of-war/
Let Slip the Robot Dogs of War – The United States and China appear locked in a race to weaponize four-legged robots for military applications.
https://www.wired.com/story/let-slip-the-robot-dogs-of-war/
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From the article
>China’s demonstration clearly rankled international observers, prompting at [least one American lawmaker](https://amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/Rifle-Toting%20Dogs%20Amendment240531152301392.pdf) to call on the US Defense Department for a report on “rifle-toting robot dogs” and their potential national security implications. But if the Chinese military is pioneering the weaponization of robot dogs, then the United States military isn’t far behind.
>In the past year, the Pentagon has experimented with outfitting quadrupedal ground robots with its [standard-issue 5.56 x 45-mm M4A1 carbine](https://www.janes.com/defence-news/us-army-experimenting-with-weaponised-q-ugv-for-infantry/), [the 6.8-mm XM7 rifle that the US Army is in the process of adopting under its Next Generation Squad Weapon program](https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/08/28/army-wants-slap-next-generation-squad-weapon-robot-dog.html), and even [the M72 Light Anti-Tank Weapon](https://www.dvidshub.net/image/8076618/us-marines-test-fire-m72-law-with-robotic-goat) that’s been in service with American troops since the Vietnam War. Just weeks before CCTV published its footage of armed robot dogs in action, Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) [revealed](https://www.twz.com/sea/rifle-armed-robot-dogs-now-being-tested-by-marine-special-operators) that it was experimenting with adding mounted gun systems based on defense contractor [Onyx’s artificial intelligence-enabled SENTRY remote weapons system](https://onyx-ind.com/otss/) to its own mechanized canines.
>American defense officials have been quick to emphasize that the development of weaponized robot dogs is, at this stage, [purely experimental](https://www.twz.com/sea/rifle-armed-robot-dogs-now-being-tested-by-marine-special-operators), intended to help military planners “[explore the realm of the possible](https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/08/28/army-wants-slap-next-generation-squad-weapon-robot-dog.html)” when it comes to the potential applications of revolutionary robotic systems in a future conflict, as one Army official [put it](https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/08/28/army-wants-slap-next-generation-squad-weapon-robot-dog.html) last August. But with [Army soldiers conducting urban assault drills alongside robot dogs](https://www.dvidshub.net/image/8297700/us-army-experiments-with-human-machine-integration-during-project-convergence-capstone-4) and the [Marine Corps increasingly eyeing mechanical quadrupeds to augment future formations with “intelligent robotics,”](https://www.twz.com/sea/robot-marines-in-every-formation-corps-robotics-chief-casts-vision) it may not be too long before the US military is forced to seriously consider adopting armed robot canines for combat before China does.
Unfortunately, humanity has a long history of using technological advancement *first,* for the purpose of having new ways to destroy one another.
I don’t see us changing any time soon.
Seems extremely inefficient. I imagine that they are not cheap, would still require a “pilot”, and could be disabled using any number of low cost explosives or jammers. At that point, why not just use a drone?
Maybe their niche would be going ahead of marines to clear urban areas or buildings?
Chinese weapon rarely claim human live. Some of their missile as scary as they might be only have fishes as their kill count.