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Marines Test Fire Robot Dog Armed with Rocket Launcher

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21–30 of 57 posts

Re: Marines Test Fire Robot Dog Armed with Rocket Launcher

#21

As a human, this looks terrifying. Imagine being attacked by robot dogs. Now imagine being attacked by robot dogs that have rocket launchers! Straight out of a Fast & Furious movie. You can(!) make this shit up. But as a person in tech, where all my values are directed towards "making a better world"... this also goes against every ideal we have. Unless you count living in a world where we have the ability to extermi…

> this also goes against every ideal we have Counterexample: https://www.wjcl.com/article/officers-kill-man-who-killed-a-... And there are countless other actual police dogs hurt or killed by violent offenders. Sending actual dogs in to snoop out bad guys, who then shoot the police dog, sadly happens. Send in a robot with a rocket launcher, the bad guy is like oh fuck this bad guy nonsense, and the robot dog just has…

Agreed, police should stop using dogs to escalate violent confrontations!

Re: Marines Test Fire Robot Dog Armed with Rocket Launcher

#22

As a human, this looks terrifying. Imagine being attacked by robot dogs. Now imagine being attacked by robot dogs that have rocket launchers! Straight out of a Fast & Furious movie. You can(!) make this shit up. But as a person in tech, where all my values are directed towards "making a better world"... this also goes against every ideal we have. Unless you count living in a world where we have the ability to extermi…

> where we have the ability to exterminate a large amount of people Counterpoint: it’s an anti-tank rocket. Not a machine gun. (Obviously, they’ll also put a machine gun on it.)

To be fair, the M72 was originally built as a light anti-armor weapon but many other versions of it have since been developed. Particularly anti-structure rockets with fragmentation warheads.

Re: Marines Test Fire Robot Dog Armed with Rocket Launcher

#23

None of the "on a dog" designs make sense to me. Robot tanks have always been able to maneuver over tougher obstacles and much harder to knock over and are significantly faster. Some tanks with the tall tracks can right-side themselves. Stability is important with aimed weapons. A tank can have a turret with multiple projectile devices and could fire any direction. A dog would fall over firing sideways. So why do we…

An M72 is single use, so if the robot falls over after firing it that isn't the end of the world. It can probably right itself and get back on its feet, then return to base for another rocket.

Still, I share your skepticism of these robot dogs. They seem like a solution looking for a problem.

Re: Marines Test Fire Robot Dog Armed with Rocket Launcher

#24

As a human, this looks terrifying. Imagine being attacked by robot dogs. Now imagine being attacked by robot dogs that have rocket launchers! Straight out of a Fast & Furious movie. You can(!) make this shit up. But as a person in tech, where all my values are directed towards "making a better world"... this also goes against every ideal we have. Unless you count living in a world where we have the ability to extermi…

> this also goes against every ideal we have Counterexample: https://www.wjcl.com/article/officers-kill-man-who-killed-a-... And there are countless other actual police dogs hurt or killed by violent offenders. Sending actual dogs in to snoop out bad guys, who then shoot the police dog, sadly happens. Send in a robot with a rocket launcher, the bad guy is like oh fuck this bad guy nonsense, and the robot dog just has…

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Re: Marines Test Fire Robot Dog Armed with Rocket Launcher

#25
- "Designs based on tracked robots primarily designed for explosive ordnance disposal work have been and continue to be developed."

And also for the exact opposite: the Ukrainian conflict sees similar tracked robots used to place landmines.

https://old.reddit.com/r/CombatFootage/comments/17ax9mx/russ... ("Russians watch Ukrainian WALL-E laying mines (subtitles)")

Re: Marines Test Fire Robot Dog Armed with Rocket Launcher

#26

As a human, this looks terrifying. Imagine being attacked by robot dogs. Now imagine being attacked by robot dogs that have rocket launchers! Straight out of a Fast & Furious movie. You can(!) make this shit up. But as a person in tech, where all my values are directed towards "making a better world"... this also goes against every ideal we have. Unless you count living in a world where we have the ability to extermi…

[flagged]

Re: Marines Test Fire Robot Dog Armed with Rocket Launcher

#27

None of the "on a dog" designs make sense to me. Robot tanks have always been able to maneuver over tougher obstacles and much harder to knock over and are significantly faster. Some tanks with the tall tracks can right-side themselves. Stability is important with aimed weapons. A tank can have a turret with multiple projectile devices and could fire any direction. A dog would fall over firing sideways. So why do we…

I'm no expert, but aren't rocket launchers recoilless? As for why the dog form factor, I'm betting it'll be because a dog form factor makes for a much cheaper swarm than a tank form factor. Less mass to move about so a smaller power pack, too

Some rocket launchers are "recoilless". In particular, shoulder fired ones tend to be, so as to, you know, not knock people over. (LAW, AT4, etc)

Re: Marines Test Fire Robot Dog Armed with Rocket Launcher

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Smaller, lighter, traverses rough terrain better. How will your mini tank deal with stairs or rubble? Rocket launchers also don't have recoil. Edit: Why would a robo dog necessarily fall over? They could take a wide stance and essentially become a tripod if they need stability.

Why would a robo dog necessarily fall over? That's just what they do. Several Youtubers have fired guns off the robot dogs and even firing straight ahead can knock them over. Non autonomous tanks have navigated stairs just fine for the FBI and SWAT teams they do it all the time.

Tis one looks like it can right itself. The legs spin 360.

Re: Marines Test Fire Robot Dog Armed with Rocket Launcher

#29

None of the "on a dog" designs make sense to me. Robot tanks have always been able to maneuver over tougher obstacles and much harder to knock over and are significantly faster. Some tanks with the tall tracks can right-side themselves. Stability is important with aimed weapons. A tank can have a turret with multiple projectile devices and could fire any direction. A dog would fall over firing sideways. So why do we…

I'm not sure US marines need a "good reason" to strap a rocket launcher onto a robot dog, other than "because it's awesome."

Re: Marines Test Fire Robot Dog Armed with Rocket Launcher

#30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Smaller, lighter, traverses rough terrain better. How will your mini tank deal with stairs or rubble? Rocket launchers also don't have recoil. Edit: Why would a robo dog necessarily fall over? They could take a wide stance and essentially become a tripod if they need stability.

Why would a robo dog necessarily fall over? That's just what they do. Several Youtubers have fired guns off the robot dogs and even firing straight ahead can knock them over. Non autonomous tanks have navigated stairs just fine for the FBI and SWAT teams they do it all the time.

Note that large guns have more recoil than modern shoulder fired rockets. AT4 recoil is lower than e.g. a dmr rifle
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