New Delhi: In a joint military exercise with Cambodia, the Chinese Army debuted its newest recruit this week, a gun-toting robot dog, demonstrating the military’s technological foray into replacing humans with machines in combat situations.
Two versions of the robot-dog were showcased — one that can fire at the enemy and a lighter dog that can be used in identifying targets. Both have a 4D wide-angle perception system, and just like real-life canines, can move forward and backward, jump, and lie down.
The dog ready for direct combat has an assault rifle attached to its top and weighs 50 kg. The other 15 kg robot is designed to replace human recruits in reconnaissance missions and can identify the enemy by providing real-time transmission of footage to military posts. It can even plan routes, avoid obstacles and approach targets.
The robot is controlled by a remote device used by soldiers as seen in a video released by the state-owned China Central television (CCTV). It operates on batteries and can be operational for up to four hours. The dogs are created by Chinese start-up Unitree Robotics.
The robot dog archetype was first developed by Boston Dynamics, a former Google subsidiary. Unitree, however, has denied supplying its products to the People’s Liberation Army, said a Financial Times report — so it is still unknown how the Chinese army obtained these devices.
The robot dog was showcased as part of China’s 15-day joint military exercise with Cambodia. The Golden Dragon 2024 exercise — held between 16 and 30 May — is taking place in Cambodia on both land and sea. It focusses on non-traditional security threats aimed at counter-terrorism, humanitarian relief, and anti-piracy operations, The Global Times reported.
Other “intelligent equipment” showcased at these drills included cargo drones, armed reconnaissance drones, which underscored the PLA’s combat capabilities.
The China-Cambodia annual military exercise was first started in 2016. This year, the drill has seen the participation of 1,300 Cambodian and 760 Chinese troops.
China considers Cambodia an important ally and has invested in numerous infrastructure projects in the Southeast Asian country. More than 40 percent of Cambodia’s 10 billion dollars foreign debt is owed to China. Further, China has also stationed two naval vessels at a new pier at the Ream naval base for over five months now. Its involvement in Cambodian ports can prove to be important for China’s actions in the South China Sea.
Cambodia, which recently renamed a road in the country’s capital after Chinese president Xi Jinping, is also known for its strategic positioning between China and the US. US defence secretary Lloyd Austin will be visiting Cambodia on 4 June, soon after the end of this military exercise.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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