China unveils ‘armed attack’ robots armed with guns and grenades

Rifle-wielding robots that can launch grenades unveiled in China to help fight terror

An armed attack robot
An armed attack robot

“Armed attack” robots that carry rifles and grenade launchers have been unveiled in China as the latest line of defence in the fight against “global terror”, state media reported.

The toy-sized attacker is one of a trio of new “anti-terror” machines, Xinhua news agency said, in a report which did not specify measures that would stop the robots falling into the wrong hands.

“The toy-sized robots can coordinate with each other on the battlefield,” said the report, following their unveiling at the 2015 World Robot Conference in Beijing.

The first model is known as a “reconnaissance” robot, which scouts for poisonous gases, dangerous chemicals and explosives before transmitting its findings back to base.

Armed attack robots

If this initial investigation detects a simple bomb is the source of danger, the second robot model - a small explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) machine - would be sent in to diffuse it.

But with other, more complicated threats, an attacker robot would start its mission, armed with “minor-caliber weapons, recoilless rifles and grenade launchers”.

“With a sighting telescope, a trigger and a safe installed, the attacker can hit its target from a long distance,” Xinhua said.

The local police force in Beijing was reported to be among the buyers for the three robots, which are priced at 1.5 million yuan (£156,000) for the set by manufacturers HIT Robot Group, who are based in the northern city of Harbin.

“Apart from anti-terror operations, they can also be applied in fire fighting, public security, forestry and agriculture,” the company’s sales manager Chen Deqiang said, according to Xinhua.