--- title: "Video Shows China’s Rifle-Equipped Robot Dog Opening Fire on Targets" description: "China has released video footage of its gun-toting robot dogs, and it's about as scary as you were probably imagining." date: "2024-05-29" modified: "2024-05-29" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/video-china-rifle-robot-dog" categories: - "Robot Dogs" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "advanced weapons" - "china" - "robodog" - "the digest" --- # Video Shows China’s Rifle-Equipped Robot Dog Opening Fire on Targets ![China has released video footage of its gun-toting robot dogs, and it's about as scary as you were probably imagining.]() *\Image: Tang Chhin Sothy / AFP via Getty / Futurism\* ## Duck, Jump, Shoot China has released video footage of its rifle-toting robot dogs, and it's about as scary as you were probably imagining. Last week, [*Agence France-Presse* reported]() that China had [flaunted]() the gun-carrying robodogs in a 15-day joint military exercise with Cambodia dubbed the "Golden Dragon." And if images of the literal killing machines weren't troubling enough, a [new video]() of the robots released yesterday by the state-owned broadcaster *China Central Television* shows the killing machine dutifully hopping and diving, leading teams in reconnaissance, and shooting its back-strapped machine gun at targets. "It can serve as a new member in our urban combat operations," says a soldier featured in the two-minute clip, "replacing our members to conduct reconnaissance and identify \[the\] enemy and strike the target." According to the report, the quadrupedal robodogs — specifically, the China-based robotics firm Unitree's [$2,800 Go2 models]() — can "operate" on their own from anywhere between two and four hours. In short, the modern, automation-driven military landscape is here. And, yep, it's terrifying. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMnkqY98Cyo ## Target Practice The *CCTV* video also showed off a series of aerial drones, labeling them as "intelligent unmanned equipment." Several of these drones were seen equipped with and shooting machine guns as well. While deadly drone warfare isn't exactly new, quadrupedal robodogs are a much more recent addition to the battlefield. And though some robotics firms, most notably Boston Dynamics, have vowed not to weaponize their robotic hounds, [other companies]() — notoriously, the US-based company Ghost Robotics — don't share those same values. On that note, China also isn't the only global power with interest in lethal robodogs. Last year, [following a report from *Jane*]() that the [US military]() itself was experimenting with Ghost Robotics' weaponized robodogs, a spokesperson for the Army [told *Military.com*]() that the military branch "continues to explore the application of human machine integration" and "the realm of the possible when it comes to transformative capabilities for future combat formations." Translation: yes, we're testing rifle-strapped robopups. In a way, it seems that the gun-toting quadrupeds have come to represent a burgeoning class of AI-powered military robots and weapons designed to join — and, [some imagine](), eventually replace — soldiers in combat zones. Such a vision for modern warfare is yet to come fully into focus, but certain elements are beginning to crystalize. And if you felt a chill in your spine when you watched the latest clip — well, that pretty much says it all. **More on modern warfare:** [*Palantir's Military AI Tech Conference Sounds Absolutely Terrifying*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()