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'The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission (hereafter 'the Commission') invites submission of proposals to provide a one-time unclassified report on China's industrial and military robotics development,' the request says.
It asks for an investigation into 'what areas is China already ahead of the United States in the use or development of robotics with military applications? What U.S. or other dual-use robotics technologies have likely been acquired by China through technology transfers or cyber penetrations?'
The commission also intends to gauge the chances China's automation efforts could eclipse comparable Pentagon initiatives, including 'Offset,' a Defense Department research initiative meant to 'offset' technological advances made by adversaries, according to Defence One.
It follows claims that between 2007 and 2009, attackers tied to the People's Liberation Army allegedly hacked a QinetiQ specialist who worked on embedded software in microchips that control the company's military robots, Bloomberg reported, citing investigations by security firms Terremark and HBGary. The Chinese military later showcased a bomb disposal robot in April 2012 that resembled QinetiQ's Dragon Runner.
The report will focus on 'The qualitative and quantitative nature of the transfer of United States production activities to the People's Republic of China, including the relocation of manufacturing, advanced technology and intellectual property, and research and development facilities, the impact of such transfers on the national security of the United States (including the dependence of the national security industrial base of the United States on imports from China), the economic security of the United States, and employment in the United States, and the adequacy of United States export control laws in relation to the People's Republic of China.'
The U.S. government also hopes to learn the names of R&D organizations in the Chinese robotics field and locate any ties to the PLA.
The photo doesn't show real US Army robots, nor Qinetiq's invention, but fictional robots from the SF film named "Short Circuit" (real robots still look more clumsy in 2016 than they were looking in that 1986 comedy). One day though, maybe, the military robots will gain sentience, like in the film. They already have some victims.