Watch: World’s First Inherently Armed Tactical Comat Robot

Watch: World’s First Inherently Armed Tactical Comat Robot

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Meet the the world’s first inherently armed tactical combat robot. World’s first? Well, it must be an Israeli invention.

General Robotics Ltd., an Israeli high-tech firm, has developed its trademarked Dogo, a 12-kilogram, pistol-packing killer robot for close-quarter combat and counterterrorism operations. Unlike other small robots which carry no weapon at all, or much larger 250 kilogram-class systems designed to carry add-on remote firing stations, Dogo is integrally built to house a standard Glock 26 9mm pistol in its belly.

Dogo can be equipped with pepper spray, blinders or other less-than-lethal means of engagement, Defense World reports.  And, like other robots, it relays two-way voice commands and can conduct remote hostage negotiations.

Dogo can fire off 14 rounds per deployment via the firm’s Ranger remote control unit (RCU), a proprietary man-robot interface that allows controllers from a safer position to aim and fire the weapon precisely where they point on an off-the-shelf touch pad.

Battery-powered Dogo intuitively climbs stairs, clears obstacle-laden terrain and maneuvers quietly indoors or underground for about four hours at a stretch. When it’s not doing that, it can be carried in one hand by fully armed infantrymen or special operators.

Each Dogo features eight of the firm’s micro-video cameras — six elevated on each side of the system’s ruggedized tracks, for 360-degree vision — and two dedicated boresight cameras designated for firing the pistol.

“We put a lot of emphasis on safety, starting with the software and extending to the hardware and firm ware,” said company founder and chief executive Udi Gal, a former deputy director of the Israeli MoD’s research and development directorate.

“All the software is running on the robot itself. The server is on the robot itself and the tracking is done intuitively by the robot itself. … Within this 12-kilo system, we’ve packed very complex technology,” he said.

General Robotics plans to formally unveil the system next month at the Eurosatory Exhibition in Paris.