--- title: "Uh Oh, They Strapped a Sniper Rifle to a Robot Dog" description: "The inevitable has happened. Somebody strapped an honest-to-God sniper to the back of a quadrupedal robot dog." date: "2021-10-12" modified: "2021-10-12" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/sniper-rifle-robot-dog" categories: - "Robot Dogs" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "ghost robotics" - "killer robots" - "robots" - "spur" --- # Uh Oh, They Strapped a Sniper Rifle to a Robot Dog ![The inevitable has happened. Somebody strapped an honest-to-God sniper to the back of a quadrupedal robot dog.]() *\Image: Ghost Robotics\* For years, we've been [warning]() that it was only a matter of time — and now, the inevitable has happened. Somebody strapped an honest-to-god sniper rifle to the back of a quadrupedal robot dog. An [image]() shared on Twitter by military robot maker Ghost Robotics shows the terrifying contraption in all its dystopian glory. "Keeping our \[special ops\] teams armed with the latest lethality innovation," the caption reads. https://twitter.com/Ghost_Robotics/status/1447699250570203137 It's a nightmare come to life, a death machine designed to kill with precision on the battlefield. "This is sad," one Twitter user [commented](). "In what world is this a good idea? I bet police is salivating at the chance to use these." There's a lot we don't know about the machine, but according to an [Instagram post]() by Sword International, a gun manufacturer, the machine is called the SPUR or Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle. "The \[SPUR\] was specifically designed to offer precision fire from unmanned platforms such as the Ghost Robotics Vision-60 quadruped," reads [Sword's website](). "Due to its highly capable sensors the SPUR can operate in a magnitude of conditions, both day and night." We don't know what level of autonomy the robot has or if it was designed to be fully remotely operated. We also don't know who the machine was developed for. The four-legged robot is lugging a sniper capable of shooting 6.5 millimeter Creedmoor cartridges, a rifle ammunition, which was developed with long-range target shooting in mind. It's a troubling new development. Any new robot built with the intent to kill should have us worried. **READ MORE:** *[Israel Shows Off Massive Military Robot With a Huge Machine Gun]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()