The army tests combat robots armed with rifles and carbines: why are they needed

Bhavanjot Singh, Senior Scientific and Technical Manager of Army Command Development (Devcom), first told about the possible equipment of a four-legged unmanned landing vehicle Vision 60 (Q-UGV) produced by Ghost Robotics WEAPS. The military claims that they have already been experimented with the installation of the M4A1 carbine on the Q-UgV robot. But the test of the new SIG SAUER XM7 rifle has become a new achievement in using unmanned robots.

"The unique ability of the dog is the ability to overcome different types of terrain that wheeled vehicles may not pass," Singh said at a meeting with US lawmakers. Devcom representative Tim Ryder told journalists of the portal that the Army Command continues to study the possibilities of human interaction with the machine, warning at the same time that the development of the prototype does not mean that the armed work-dogs will soon appear in the troops very soon.

"Although the demonstrations of advanced technologies - in this case, related to combat weapons of the next generation and unmanned land vehicles - allow us to explore the sphere of the possible, they do not necessarily represent the near future of the US Army," the military said. Currently, representatives of the army program of robotics have told reporters that, in the next 10 years, they will not be used in the army even naked work-pas, not to mention the rifles equipped.

Meanwhile, work-fans, such as Vision 60 Q-UGV, are actively tested even as part of the militarized units of combat units. They can perform security functions on military bases, participate in intelligence, and even performed some tasks for the disposal of ammunition at the direction of their operators.

Although semi-autonomous and remotely controlled armed platforms have already entered the Arsenal of the US Armed Forces, the prospect of armament of robots and their departure to hostile territory, together with US troops, has caused controversy in the robotic industry. Half a dozen of robotics companies, including the leading company Boston Dynamics, published a letter in October last year to call the world military to refrain from using their technologies as weapons.