China unveils rifle-firing robot dog in joint military exercise with Cambodia

China showcased a robot dog equipped with an automatic rifle mounted on its back, during ongoing joint military exercise with Cambodia, reported CNN. A video of the combat ready robot dog has been shared on YouTube by China-backed CCTV Video News Agency. During the military exercise, China also showcased a "variety of intelligent unmanned equipment" like cargo drones and reconnaissance drones.

Sharing a video clip from the military exercise on Saturday, CCTV Video News Agency described it as "Intelligent equipment such as robot dog and drones are in spotlight at the ongoing China-Cambodia "Golden Dragon 2024" joint military exercise."

In the video shared, the robot dog can be seen walking, hopping, lying down and moving backwards while being controlled by a remote operator. In the video, a Chinese soldier informs that the robot dog weighs 15 kilograms and is equipped with a 4D wide-angle perception system.

"It can serve as a new member in our urban combat operations, replacing our (human) members to conduct reconnaissance and identify (the) enemy and strike the target," a soldier named Chen Wei said in the video.

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With batteries and a power system in its abdomen, the robot dog can operate two to four hours, the video claims.

In the video, the rifle-firing robot dog can also be seen leading an infantry unit into a simulated building.

Ongoing China-Cambodia "Golden Dragon 2024" joint military exercise involves the participation of 1,315 Cambodian military personnel and 760 Chinese soldiers. The Golden Dragon exercises have been held on a regular basis since 2016, around the same time that Cambodia canceled similar exercises with the United States known as Angkor Sentinel.

Earlier, in November 2023, in a joint exercise held in China, involving the Chinese, Cambodian, Lao, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese militaries, rifle-armed robotic canines were shown.