(Newsworthy.news) – The Chinese military is reportedly launching a new military tool in the form of a robotic dog.
A recent video released by the state media showed the “dog of war” robot—a quadruped mechanism with a firearm on top—features the mechanism preparing to fire at a group of soldiers coming through a door during a simulation of a raid. The video from the Chinese Central Television network is only 11 seconds long.
According to one of the soldiers, the “dog of war” is controlled via remote. He explained in the brief video that the robot’s battery has extended operating life and is able to be controlled even from a “very long distance” away from the dog. The robot also reportedly carries the ability to store ammunition as well as medical supplies.
Efforts to create “dogs of war” for military use comes amid a well-established market for similar products. Unitree Robotics, a Chinese tech company, has been invested in developing quadruped robots for years. Though not designed for military use, the start-up has been building robotic dogs since 2016, as Fox News reports.
Quadruped robots for military use, however, is an experiment that has been tackled by several other nations. In 2023, the United States Marine Corps introduced a “robotic goat” carrying an anti-tank gun. This product was being tested as early as 2020, when the American Air Force began tests on whether it could effectively work as a base guard.
Similarly, the Massachusetts state police utilized another machine named “Spot” in 2019, which was manufactured by robotics company Boston Dynamics. The law enforcement agency reportedly used this robot in the testing phase as part of their bomb squad.
Massachusetts state police explained that the robotic dog contributed as a “mobile remote observation device” that provided images and locations of suspicious objects and suspects. The initial test ran 90 days, and “Spot” has been used for certain situations such as monitoring individuals’ possessions for dangerous materials during crowded events.
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