Rise of the Machines - Robot Dog with Sniper Rifle

If you ever thought Black Mirror is just a TV show... think again

The US military is testing a quadruped robot dog, from Ghost Robotics of Philadelphia, for use as perimeter security at Tyndall Air Force Base.

In October, a version of the "Vision 60" robot dog was unveiled at the annual Association of the United States Army held in Washington DC, fitted with a Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle (or SPUR) from Sword Defense, a sniper rifle.

The Vision 60 robot dog can be remote-controlled and is capable of autonomous operation. It seems that current US Army rules of engagement forbid firing of weapons by unmanned systems, so a human is still required to remotely trigger the weapon.

Looking at this video clip of the Vison 60 (without SPUR), it makes sense having a robot dog engaged in tasks such as patrolling the perimeter, instead of having actual humans doing it.

I'll end this terrifying and short post with this funny bit from Colbert, on the robot dog with a sniper rifle.