Chinese military showcase machine gun-mounted robot dogs

According to Axios, the robot appeared to be made by Unitree, a Chinese company that advertises its products online for thousands of dollars. It said the US Marine Corps was developing its science fiction-like battlefield robot in the form of a rocket launcher goat.

Marines strapped a rocket launcher to the robotic goat in the California desert last September, testing the machine’s abilities to carry and fire weapons in battle, reported the Military Times.

“Instead of having a Marine handle the weapon system, manipulate the safeties, we could put a remote trigger mechanism on it that allowed it to all be done remotely,” 1st Lt. Aaron Safadi, officer in charge of the group’s emerging technology integration section, said at the time.

“The Marine could be behind cover and concealment, the weapon system could go forward, and the Marine could manipulate the safeties from a safe place while allowing that weapon system to get closer to its target.”