#HTE

U.S. Air Force Now Testing Out Robot Dogs for Base Security

As someone who loves dogs and fears robots, I’m having a tough time with this one. This month the U.S. Air Force tested out an unspecified number of robot dogs “for perimeter defense at Nellis Air Force Base,” according to The Drive.

The robo-Spots were Ghost Robotics’ model V60 Q-UGV (Quadrupedal Unmanned Ground Vehicle), which the company says “outperform wheeled, tracked and other legged robots in unstructured, demanding and continuous-use environments” and can carry out “ISR (Inspection, Surveillance, Reconnaissance), EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), mapping, mesh communications and persistent security.”

Here’s what they look like on the prowl:

(What the heck was that thing it deployed from its back around the 0:22 mark? One of those small rolling cameras, or a grenade?)

Based solely on the video I’m confident I could outrun one of these, and since they can’t bite, ought be able to kick one over. But how long until they strap some anti-personnel weapons onto their backs?