It seems easy-to-purchase robot dogs are becoming an increasingly popular way to carry and fire rocket launchers remotely. Even the U.S. Marine Corps realizes the potential of this combination and just showed off a proof-of-concept demonstration video.
Members of the Marine Corps Air-Ground Task Force Training Command (MAGTFC) Tactical Training and Exercise Control Group (TTECG) at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California, tested the robotic dog in September, The War Zone reported.
The demonstration also involved members of the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR) using a simple Chinese-made UnitreeGo1 robotic dog (or "goat" as they call it), which can be purchased from Amazon for about $5,000. The company's website offers a cheaper version, the Go1Air, for $2,000, and a more advanced Go1Pro for $3,500. By comparison, the Boston Dynamics Spot originally went on sale in 2020 for $74,500.
In the video, the quadruped robot is carrying an M72 infantry anti-armor rocket launcher. It is also equipped with a front-facing GoPro camera and several rails that can accommodate additional cameras, targeting lasers and other destructive items.
For safety reasons, the robot dog fires weapons in a sitting position, with two sandbags on each side of the body to maintain balance, and a steel rod behind it to easily cope with the recoil of 21mm rockets.
The larger one also wears a goat-headed mask on its fuselage and is capable of roaring, barking, and even sounding alarms.
“Instead of having the Marines be responsible for the weapons systems and safety gear, we can put a remote trigger mechanism on it so that everything can be done remotely,” said Marine Corps 1st Lt. Aaron Safadi, who is responsible for the emerging weapons systems and technology integration component within TTECG. "Marines can be behind cover and cover, weapons systems can advance, and Marines can operate safety devices from a safe location while allowing weapons systems to get closer to their targets."
This isn't the first time we've seen robot dogs weaponized. In October 2021, SWORD International, which produces semi-automatic rifles, partnered with Ghost Robotics to add the Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle (SPUR) to the latter's Quadruped Unmanned Ground Vehicle (Q-UGV) (pictured below). The machine bears a striking resemblance to the metallic creature from the TV show War of the Worlds and the murderous dog robot from the Black Mirror series Metal Head. And of course the one in Battlefield 2042.
On display at last summer's Russian Army 2022 Expo was the M-81, a canine-like four-legged robot carrying an RPG-26 and wearing ninja armor. The robot is likely to be based on products from Yushu Technology, and the original model can be purchased from China’s Alibaba marketplace for just $2,700.
Boston Dynamics was one of several robotics companies to sign an open letter last October asking people not to weaponize their robots. Spot is used in the armed forces, but its purpose is reconnaissance and load transport.