Image: RIA Novosti
At a Russian arms fair this week, a developer showed off their new creation, and the logical next step of the robot arms race: a Boston Dynamics-style dog robot with an RPG strapped to its back.A video uploaded by RIA Novosti, a Russian-state owned news agency, shows the robot in action, in which the robot tiptoes around before laying down on the ground, its RPG pointed forward. The robot itself is dressed in something akin to the black outfit of a ninja, its eyes, which are presumably cameras, peeking out.
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RIA Novosti said it spoke to the developers and wrote in a Telegram post that they said “this is a sample of the M-81 robotic system, capable of conducting aimed shooting and transporting weapons, and for civilian purposes it can be used in the emergency zone for reconnaissance, passage through rubble and delivery of medicines.”“When used in combat, the robotic dog can also be engaged in target designation, patrolling and security,” the post added.Sign up for Motherboard’s daily newsletter for a regular dose of our original reporting, plus behind-the-scenes content about our biggest stories.The video was taken at “Army-2022,” an ongoing arms fair in Moscow. The conference is taking place from Monday until Sunday, has around 1,500 participants, and over 28,000 exhibits, according to its website. One exhibitor also showed off an unmanned military truck which has no cockpit.In July, Motherboard reported on a YouTube channel that uploaded video of a similarity styled robot dog with a working submachine gun attached to it. Then this month, a hacker found that the particular model of robot used ships with a killswitch which can be used to disable the robot.