It has been predicted that armed robots will be sent into the field and that prediction already has come true. You can see them in the formed of drones up in the sky, beneath the surface of the ocean, and roaming the surface of the earth. Whilst these either winged, wheeled, tracked, or propeller driven, we are now seeing armed robots as quadrupeds.

A video that was posted on YouTube in March of this year, is becoming viral as websites are starting to share it shows an armed robodog shooting with an SMG strapped on its back. This is a contraption made by Alexander Atamanov, a Russian who is behind the US-based HOVERSURF which is developing a flying car that will be the backbone of drone taxi service. It is also developing a hoverbike that is being tested by the Dubai police.

The armed robodog looks like the Boston Dynamics “Spot”robot but this one looks like a China-made clone that can be ordered from Aliexpress for US$3,000.00. It is called the Unitree Yushu Technology Dog and is remote controlled by a human operator. The maker says it also has artificial intelligence, which can mean that it can be capable of autonomous operation.

Strapped on the dog is the PP-19-01 Vityaz 9mm SMG so we assume that the robodog is at a range somewhere in Russia as the armoured vehicle seen in the video is a BDRM-2 amphibious armoured scout car that is a Soviet design. We can’t tell from the video if the Vityaz is fired by the robodog or by a human operator via remote control. We assume reloading is still done by the human operator.

As the Vityaz is fired, the robodog is unable to control the recoil given the muzzle climb as well as sliding back when the gun is fired at full auto. Still, this is just for starters and further iteration of the robodog might see it handling a gun that has been customised for it to handle and fire accurately at the target.

There are many possibilities for the use of armed robots such as sending them to locations where it is too risky to send soldiers such as close quarters combat as well as sentries. As the development of AI and robots continue, the prediction that the evolution of warfare will be mainly conducted with robots that are bipedal may just become reality in our lifetime. Skynet, anyone?

Photos are from Alexander Atamanov's Facebook Page.