A chilling video reminiscent of Black Mirror of a robot dog opening fire with a submachine gun strapped to its back – uploaded by the Russian founder of a hoverbike company – is a preview of future warfare.
Alexander Atamanov, the founder of a Russian hoverbike company, uploaded the viral video, which shows a UnitreeYushu dogbot that retails online for about $3,000 shooting at snow-covered hills outside, and it appears he was simply creating something to play around with.
At a time when autonomous drones are being used to target terrorists and the US Army has its own sniper rifle-armed robot dog, the video is a terrifying reminder that this type weapon is already a reality.
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Alexander Atamanov, the founder of a Russian hoverbike company, uploaded the viral video, which shows a UnitreeYushu dogbot that retails online for about $3,000
The robot dog, called a ‘technology dog’ by its manufacturer, appears to be carrying a Russian gun known as a PP-19 Vityaz, a type of submachine gun that’s based on the AK-47 design
The robot dog, called a ‘technology dog’ by its manufacturer, appears to be carrying a Russian gun known as a PP-19 Vityaz, a type of submachine gun that’s based on the AK-47 design, according to Vice.
The robot also has strips of Velcro on its sides and a Russian flag is seen on its left flank.
There’s a lot that we don’t know about the dystopian dog’s capabilities, but we can tell that the robot dog has trouble handling the gun’s recoil: each time it fires, the bot has to re-balance itself.
Atamanov, who based on his social media feed seems to enjoy tooling around with military style hardware, posted a picture to his Facebook page showing what looks like the same dogbot, but this time holding a cup of coffee instead of a submachine gun.
Boston Dynamics, maker of its own robotic dogs, has said it won’t them to people who intend to weaponize the bots
The Russian entrepreneur, who is based in New York City, holds bachelor’s degrees in engineering and law, a master’s degree in the management of innovation processes and calls himself a ‘pioneer and leading international expert in the field of personal aviation technology’ on his LinkedIn page.
Atamanov did not immediately respond to a DailyMail.com request for comment regarding the video.
Alexander Atamanov, the founder of a Russian hoverbike company, is seen above
Boston Dynamics, maker of its own robotic dogs, has said it won’t them to people who intend to weaponize the bots – however, agencies like the NYPD have already used them to patrol apartment buildings, drawing criticism from civil liberties advocates.
However, other companies are pursuing robotic dogs with violent capabilities.
A robotic dog with a 6.5 mm Creedmoor sniper rifle attached to it that’s capable of hitting targets 3,940 feet away was unveiled at US Army trade show in October.
The ‘Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle’ (SPUR) is the brainchild of Philadelphia-based Ghost Robotics and arms manufacturer SWORD International of Sparks, Nevada.
SPUR can be remotely instructed to load, unload and fire its rifle when it’s placed on top of one of Ghost Robotics’ existing ‘quadrupedal unmanned ground vehicles.’
The firms have yet to reveal the exact configuration of the weapon, nor how much ammunition the machine is capable of carrying or its reload rate.
However, tests have shown that the 6.5mm rounds used in the Creedmoor rifle offer an increase in range over the 7.62x51mm cartridges currently used by US forces.
The hoverbike company founder is seen with what appears to be the same robotic dog, but this time it’s holding a copy of coffee instead of a gun
