© YouTube / CCTV Video News Agency
"Intelligent equipment," including all sorts of robots and unmanned aerial vehicles, were the focus of the Golden Dragon 2024 drills, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said in a video report published this week. The clip demonstrated several types of remotely controlled robots used for a wide range of tasks, including reconnaissance, target detection, and even assault operations.
Reconnaissance robot 'dogs' weighing 15 kilograms (33lbs) could operate for between two and four hours, providing real-time video transmission to troops, a device operator told CCTV. The robot was shown to be capable of rapidly lying down, of jumping and of moving in various directions on flat terrain. According to Chinese media, such devices are capable of planning their routes and of avoiding obstacles without additional input from their operators.
A heavier version of the robot dog weighing 50 kilograms (110lbs) and equipped with an assault rifle mounted on its back could be seen participating in assault-operation training by the Chinese military. The robot was the first one to enter a building, with an assault squad close behind.
According to its operator, the gun-toting robot dog could replace a soldier on a reconnaissance mission in an urban combat operation and be the first one to identify an enemy and to attack a target. Footage published by CCTV also featured various types of flying drones, including a six-rotor version that is also equipped with an assault rifle.
The drone was shown firing at its target while hovering over a small hangar simulating a building during the exercises.
It was not the first time the Chinese military demonstrated the use of robots armed with guns during its exercises. Another video, published five months ago, also featured a similar robot dog with an assault rifle mounted on its back. That robot was seen being used in a similar 'vanguard' capacity as PLA soldiers were storming some buildings.
US troops were also reported to have used similar robots during their training. Video footage of this was published by CNN as early as 2020. However, the US Army model was only used for scouting missions to detect threats soldiers could face in an unfamiliar environment and had no weapons that could be seen in the video.
Drones and unmanned systems have been taking an increasingly prominent role in modern conflicts, as Moscow has shown in its ongoing standoff against Kiev. The Russian military has regularly published videos of its troops using various types of drones to destroy Ukrainian military equipment, including Western-supplied tanks and armored vehicles.
The Lancet family of kamikaze drones, which are also known as loitering munitions, have frequently been mentioned in the context of successful Russian strikes and, in particular, were responsible for the destruction of several US-made Abrams tanks.
Reader Comments
This whole robot dog is just more ai bullshit - them dogs would go down easy in a real face-to-face confrontation - just tip the effing dog over and let it shoot into the ground or shoot itself - or just send the EMP signal and then take it for yourself.
If I got me one, I'd try to take it intact - then I would put it in a fixed place - and let it be an early warning systems capable of disabling offensive ones uninvited.
Bottom line - robot dogs are a waste of funds and useless in a real battle - robots need to be taken to the shed and re-programmed. Either that or just melt them down....a real dog is better defense...and robot dogs are offensive is so many ways....eff the stupid idjits wasting funds on equipping robot dogs with weapons - how stupid is that?
How in conflict with life-affirming ideology robot dogs are - what a useless piece of scrap metal most will end up....pathetic.
US blowhards, try and take Taiwan, i dare you. You will get our asses handed to you like you did in Korea and Vietnam.
It could be that in the future, wars will be machines against machines, led by nerds with a high percentage of sexual frustration and locked in some dark basement surrounded by screens and video game controllers, while the rest of us pay for it with overexploitation at work due to the high cost of living caused by economic inflation. And, as always, the supercorporations or plutocracies will be the winners.
I think they call this Industry 4.0.
But quick thumbs are one thing - quick thumbs on dimwits another altogether - I wonder if the Ninja knew that or just had high dexterity.
[Link] - I appreciate a portable device for playing games but the IOS games are lacking sophistication and this other device enables playing games more complicated - but I admit, I'm an older fella game player and my thumbs need to be trained to use this new device. My eyes as well being the text is so small - but I'll do my best to learn to play. It helps a fella stay young I reckon and I prefer playing portable versus sitting in front of a monitor fixed.
Regardless - for many reasons it is important to have quick thumbs, so I appreciated the lessons the ninja was trying to teach the geek!
However, artificial intelligence will never be equivalent to the wisdom or consciousness gained over generations, and we will continue to pay for it to achieve that.