The US Army is currently testing robot dogs equipped with AI-enabled weaponry at a military facility in the Middle East, as reported by Military.com. Recent images released by the Defence Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) depict one of these robot dogs undergoing "rehearsals" at the Red Sands Integrated Experimentation Center in Saudi Arabia. This testing is part of a counter-unmanned aerial system exercise conducted in mid-September.
The four-legged unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) features a turret-mounted rifle resembling an AR-15/M16 pattern weapon. This technology is similar to the robotic systems that the Army trialled at Fort Drum, New York, earlier in August.
According to a spokesman for US Army Central, the armed robot dog was one of several “non-counter-sUAS” systems evaluated alongside 15 counter-drone platforms during the September exercise, Military.com reported. The gun was reportedly engaged against multiple static ground targets, although further details on its potential applications were not disclosed.
The integration of robot dogs and other autonomous ground vehicles into military operations has been a focus for the US Defence Department in recent years. The Pentagon has increasingly explored the possibility of outfitting these robotic canines with various weapon systems.
The Marine Corps has already tested quadrupedal robots fitted with both Onyx Industries' SENTRY remote weapon system and the M72 LAW anti-tank rocket launcher. The Army is also considering equipping its mechanised canines with the new 6.8mm XM7 rifle, part of its Next Generation Squad Weapon programme aimed at replacing the M4 carbine.
Notably, the US military is not alone in pursuing this technology. In May, the Chinese military unveiled its own robot dog armed with an assault rifle during a training exercise in Cambodia. A soldier, identified as Chen Wei, commented in a video released by state broadcaster CCTV that the robot can “serve as a new member in our urban combat operations, replacing our (human) members to conduct reconnaissance and identify (the) enemy and strike the target.”
As military technology continues to evolve, the implications of deploying armed robot dogs raise important questions about the future of warfare and the role of automation on the battlefield.