The Asian giant admits to using armed robot dogs in its army: they are produced by a Chinese company that also makes humanoid robots that resist kicks and punches
What used to be a suspectedwith many supporting clues, is now one clear truth: the China already uses gods armed robot dogs within his land army. The confirmation comes from a television report broadcast by State TV CCTV and then published on the CCTV+ YouTube channel.
They look good in the service two models, both from a Chinese company that we have already talked about on Libero Tecnologia, highlighting the fact that it was very likely that those robots were also used for police or war operations. We were right and this, unfortunately, leads us to venture a further prophecy: China will soon also show some humanoid war robots.
Robotic War Dogs: The CCTV Service
State TV CCTV showed a report on the China-Cambodia joint military exercises called “Golden Dragon“, which took place between 17 and 30 May. These are the first joint exercises between the two countries in history, as well as the first in which an army officially admits to having some robot dogs.
There are two dogs in question, both produced by China Unitree: this is the light model Unitree G02which weighs just 15 kg and is very agile, and the heavy model Unitree B1which weighs a good 50 kilos and is much slower in its movements.
But the B1, thanks to its weight, has a big advantage for the Chinese army: It doesn’t suffer from recoil at all of the big and powerful Assault rifle that they mounted on his back.
Thus a young soldier explains in the report that while Unitree G02 is used for reconnaissance and to send the footage from its cameras to the command post in real time, Unitree B1 “can serve as a new member in our urban combat operations, replacing our comrades to carry out reconnaissance and enemy identification and hit the target during our exercise“.
To all intents and purposes, therefore, it is a armed robot soldieralbeit on all fours.
Next step: humanoid robots
The Chinese Unitree has never hidden behind a finger and has always hinted that its robots can also be used for military or police actions. The robot Unitree G02 it is in fact the basis of the product “Thermonator” by the American Throwflame, who is nothing other than a dog robot with flamethrower on the back.
In the promotional video of the robot dog Unitree B2 (evolution of the B1 with the rifle shown by the Chinese army), its ability to resist is shown tugging and draggingbut above all it is the video of another product that makes you think.
We’re talking about the new Unitree G1 humanoid robotmade known a few weeks ago with the usual video that illustrates its potential: resists kicks and punchesfalls and gets up again and knows how to use a cane.
And just the armed humanoid robot seems to be the next logical step from China: we cannot know when it will be announced, but we now have little doubt that will happen.
