According to foreign media reports, at the "AUSA 2021 Exhibition" (AUSA 2021) from October 11 to 13, a robot dog equipped with a 6.5 mm caliber assault rifle named "Spur" made its debut, relying on a computer to control the speed of its movement of each leg so that it could accurately hit targets within 1200 meters.
The robot dog was created by the American robot production company Ghost Robotics and arms dealer Word International and is called the "special purpose unmaned rifle", or spur for short.
According to the manufacturer, spurs can also be loaded with firearms of other calibers as needed. As can be seen from the picture, the sniper rifle is hidden under the protective case of the robot dog with a aiming system. The protruding barrel also appears to be fitted with silencers, helping to prevent the enemy from identifying the source of fire.
In addition, Ghost Robotics said that the spur is relatively light, weighs less than 8kg, can run day and night, and is waterproof, strong, even if multiple sensors are equipped with failure.
Currently, soldiers can use remote control to complete aiming, shooting or some simpler actions, mainly for surveillance and reconnaissance tasks. But information about its bomb load and how it will be reloaded is unclear.
To be sure, the use of robots will continue to increase in the future, and the US military is already discussing the use of virtual reality headsets (VR headsets) to centrally control these robots from headquarters. In fact, there are already systems capable of acquiring and targeting weapons of this caliber, and will soon be able to assemble them onto robots.
In April, French troops tested Boston Dynamics' robotic dog spot for reconnaissance during a military exercise. British Defence Chief Nick Carter also said in an interview that by 2030, the British Army may use 30,000 military robots, when they will be deployed on the front line with soldiers.
For the military, such robots can ensure the safety of military personnel within the corresponding range of the range, but as artificial intelligence evolves, it remains to be seen whether robots will be equipped with greater autonomy.
Wuhan Morning Post intern reporter Liang Xia