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The Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) “Interaction-2024” joint counter-terrorism exercise recently included the use of robot dogs and drone swarms. This exercise reportedly aimed to show the organization’s determination and capabilities in tackling terrorism threats. The SCO was founded in 2001 and includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan and Belarus.
According to Interesting Engineering, the exercise included soldiers and police officers armed with assault rifles, pistols, and riot shields launching an assault (some using armored and all-terrain vehicles and some using helicopters) with aerial drones and robot dogs. The Global Times reports the drill included specialized operations like “the eradication of terrorist groups” to respond to significant terrorist threats.
Li Wei, a research fellow and security expert from the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said in an interview: “The SCO had previously held several anti-terrorism exercises, but they were bilateral or multilateral and did not feature all member states… The latest exercise reflected that all SCO member states share a common understanding toward the threats posed by terrorism.”
Members of the SCO have long cooperated in counter-terrorism, and this latest exercise establishes a new model for joint live drills by relevant agencies and enhances the authorities of the joint operational capabilities of SCO members.
The exercise included a drill rifle-toting robot dog, showing that China has made significant advancements in the development of such robot dogs. The country has shown its machine-gun-toting “robodog” drones earlier this year, as well as several other unmanned vehicles. The remote-controlled drone robot dog soldiers are reportedly equipped with back-mounted machine guns, and while they were apparently not live-fire tested, they did display their mobility.
The “Golden Dragon” exercise included 14 warships, helicopters, and almost seventy armored vehicles and tanks. It reportedly involved about 2,000 troops, while 760 of them were Chinese.
