Marines are testing their own AI robot dog. (no Flamethrower yet)

Remember when we were thinking a flamethrower on a robot dog was crazy? Well, it's not so crazy if you're looking at military applications, and that's what's been happening. There have been several reports now leaking out that claim that Marines are testing robot dogs some with armaments.

According to msnbc.com,
“The US Marine Forces Special Operations Command recently performed field tests with new unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). These four-legged robots, dubbed Vision 60 quadrupedal UGVs, were armed with AI-powered weapons. This represents a big step towards incorporating new technology into military operations.”

There is a whole lot of tactical text speak in this report, but basically. The robot comes from a company called Ghost Robotics. and their remote AI weapons systems come from Onyx Industries. They claim that the AI weapon system can also. Identify and. Designate targets. But the final decision to shoot still comes from. A human operator.

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I think the main thing to keep in mind here is even though it looks kind of like a dog. Remember, this is just a drone operated like any other drone by remote control. The AI system does allow it to have a little more autonomy which basically just is an aid to the operator.

The unit in the video and the pictures seems to be very similar to “Spot” from Boston Dynamics but there are some differences. One of the things that Ghost Robotics wants to do is increase the speed of the drone eventually getting it up to about 6.7 mph in a Sprint.

One of the goals here, like any drone, is to be able to operate it from anywhere in the world. Potentially you could have somebody sitting in a drone control room in a military base. Operating one of these drones located anywhere in the world.

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I'm sure military minds have thought about this, but one thing that occurs to me is what happens if the drone is captured. All this new technology now in the hands of an Unfriendly foreign power? When it finally does go out in the field, will it have a self-destruct system? Will the self-destruct system be autonomous or will it have to be triggered by a human operator.

Lots of questions still have to be answered.

I guess that's why they're testing it.

Robot Dogs with AI Weapons Undergo Testing by US Marines (msn.com)
U.S. Marine Special Operations Testing Armed Robotic Canines: The New Vanguard of Battlefield Technology (msn.com)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/us-marines-special-ops-evaluate-ai-aimed-rifle-armed-robot-dogs/ar-BB1mgcEj?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=e2826899d550453fa4dca85ed2551344&ei=27
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-marines-assess-capabilities-of-ai-equipped-armed-robotic-dogs-in-tactical-evaluations/ar-BB1mfMZW?ocid=entnewsntp&cvid=3c1c267ead9c4a918e2ebfd82e791672&ei=51