Lassen Sie die Roboterhunde des Krieges los – Die Vereinigten Staaten und China scheinen in ein Wettrennen verwickelt zu sein, um vierbeinige Roboter für militärische Zwecke zu bewaffnen.

From the article

>China’s demonstration clearly rankled international observers, prompting at [least one American lawmaker](https://amendments-rules.house.gov/amendments/Rifle-Toting%20Dogs%20Amendment240531152301392.pdf) to call on the US Defense Department for a report on “rifle-toting robot dogs” and their potential national security implications. But if the Chinese military is pioneering the weaponization of robot dogs, then the United States military isn’t far behind.

>In the past year, the Pentagon has experimented with outfitting quadrupedal ground robots with its [standard-issue 5.56 x 45-mm M4A1 carbine](https://www.janes.com/defence-news/us-army-experimenting-with-weaponised-q-ugv-for-infantry/), [the 6.8-mm XM7 rifle that the US Army is in the process of adopting under its Next Generation Squad Weapon program](https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/08/28/army-wants-slap-next-generation-squad-weapon-robot-dog.html), and even [the M72 Light Anti-Tank Weapon](https://www.dvidshub.net/image/8076618/us-marines-test-fire-m72-law-with-robotic-goat) that’s been in service with American troops since the Vietnam War. Just weeks before CCTV published its footage of armed robot dogs in action, Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) [revealed](https://www.twz.com/sea/rifle-armed-robot-dogs-now-being-tested-by-marine-special-operators) that it was experimenting with adding mounted gun systems based on defense contractor [Onyx’s artificial intelligence-enabled SENTRY remote weapons system](https://onyx-ind.com/otss/) to its own mechanized canines.

>American defense officials have been quick to emphasize that the development of weaponized robot dogs is, at this stage, [purely experimental](https://www.twz.com/sea/rifle-armed-robot-dogs-now-being-tested-by-marine-special-operators), intended to help military planners “[explore the realm of the possible](https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/08/28/army-wants-slap-next-generation-squad-weapon-robot-dog.html)” when it comes to the potential applications of revolutionary robotic systems in a future conflict, as one Army official [put it](https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/08/28/army-wants-slap-next-generation-squad-weapon-robot-dog.html) last August. But with [Army soldiers conducting urban assault drills alongside robot dogs](https://www.dvidshub.net/image/8297700/us-army-experiments-with-human-machine-integration-during-project-convergence-capstone-4) and the [Marine Corps increasingly eyeing mechanical quadrupeds to augment future formations with “intelligent robotics,”](https://www.twz.com/sea/robot-marines-in-every-formation-corps-robotics-chief-casts-vision) it may not be too long before the US military is forced to seriously consider adopting armed robot canines for combat before China does.