China has released video footage of its rifle-toting robot dogs, and it's about as scary as you were probably imagining.shows the killing machine dutifully hopping and diving, leading teams in reconnaissance, and shooting its back-strapped machine gun at targets.
"It can serve as a new member in our urban combat operations," says a soldier featured in the two-minute clip, "replacing our members to conduct reconnaissance and identify enemy and strike the target."video also showed off a series of aerial drones, labeling them as "intelligent unmanned equipment." Several of these drones were seen equipped with and shooting machine guns as well.
While deadly drone warfare isn't exactly new, quadrupedal robodogs are a much more recent addition to the battlefield. And though some robotics firms, most notably Boston Dynamics, have vowed not to weaponize their robotic hounds,that the military branch "continues to explore the application of human machine integration" and "the realm of the possible when it comes to transformative capabilities for future combat formations.
Such a vision for modern warfare is yet to come fully into focus, but certain elements are beginning to crystalize. And if you felt a chill in your spine when you watched the latest clip — well, that pretty much says it all.