US Marines Recently Test Fired A Robot Dog With A Rocket Launcher On Its Back

Just when we thought robot dogs with flame-throwers, assault rifles (like something straight out of Black Mirror), and machine guns strapped to their backs was scary enough, now they’ve got rocket launchers!

What’s next? Robot dogs with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads?!

Maybe. For now, we’ve just got U.S. Marines and scientists with the Office of Naval Research conducting a proof-of-concept range for the Robotic Goat at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center located at Twentynine Palms, California.

Yes, they call it a goat, not a dog. Not sure why. (No word on whether soldiers can control it with just their minds.)

According to a video of the test, “The goat can carry different payloads and was testing its ability to acquire and prosecute targets with the M72 Light Anti-Tank Weapon.”

Awesome.

The best part? You can actually purchase the exact same robot dog slash goat (minus rocket launcher) off Amazon for $4,899. (It will go nicely with your Thermonator, the flame-throwing robot dog, that you already purchased.)

Joseph Trevithick of The War Zone reports…

The weapon system on the robot dog’s back consists of a mount designed to hold and fire an M72-series rocket launcher, as well as a forward-facing GoPro camera offset on the right side. There are rails installed at various points that could be used to mount additional cameras, aiming lasers, and other accessories.

“Instead of having a Marine handle the weapon system, manipulate the safeties, we could put a remote trigger mechanism on it that allowed it to all be done remotely,” Marine Corps 1st Lt. Aaron Safadi, the officer in charge of the emerging technology integration section within TTECG, said in a statement. “The Marine could be behind cover and concealment, the weapon system could go forward, and the Marine could manipulate the safeties from a safe place while allowing that weapon system to get closer to its target.”

All of that is assuming that they came up with a solid fix for how simple some of these robot dogs are to disable.