China unveils rifle-armed robot dog in military exercise; see the video

During recent joint military exercises with Cambodia, China unveils its newest weapon of war: a robot dog equipped with a machine gun. The mega military operation, called “Golden Dragon”, involves more than 2 thousand soldiers, 12 ships and lasts 15 days.

The video showing the deadly robot dog was published on YouTube by the China Central Television (CCTV) channel. The army did not provide detailed information about the firepower of the weapons used and the equipment that must be relevant to the movement limitation.

However, CCTV did mention some of the capabilities of the machine, which also has an unarmed version. The robots are operated by remote control, have up to four hours of battery life, and can move forward, backward, jump, crouch, plan routes, and more. Check out the video below:

In the video, one of the soldiers says that the armed robot dog could replace human soldiers in urban operations or on the battlefield.

The machine will be useful for area reconnaissance as well as target identification and attack. It is possible to see the machine leading a platoon during a simulated activity.

Armed robot dogs are nothing new

This isn’t the first time a robot dog with a rifle on its back has been made public.

Ghost Robotics exhibited its armed robot dog, made in partnership with Sword Defense, in 2021. Although the equipment belongs to an American company, the US military has so far only tested (at least openly) unarmed machines.

But this month, the US Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) announced that it was testing a robot dog very similar to one produced in China. In fact, this is the same equipment that Ghost Robotics demonstrated three years ago.

Moreover, China held military exercises with the same type of robots last year, more precisely in November. The video was also broadcast by CCTV.

In another incident (October 2022), a robot dog armed with a machine gun was shown in the country. This model was integrated into a drone and could be transported and deployed remotely on the battlefield.