Chinese military officials are testing a unique piece of kit, robot dogs equipped with machine guns on their back.
A 15-day exercise, called Golden Dragon, was held with Chinese and Cambodian troops.
The training mission consisted of over 2,000 troops, 14 warships, two helicopters, and 69 armoured vehicles/tanks alongside the remote-controlled four-legged robot dogs with automatic rifles.
It has been reported that the machine gun robodogs did not shoot off any fire.
Chinese forces attend a demonstration of a machine gun equipped robot battle "dog"
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The visit of the Chinese ships to Cambodia could further fuel US concerns about the presence of Chinese warships at Cambodia's Ream Naval Base, whose recent expansion has been backed by China.
Cambodia's decision to allow China to develop Ream, located at a key waterway on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand in Cambodia's Sihanoukville province, has upset Washington.
Officials are worried that it will give Beijing a new outpost near the contested South China Sea, most of which are claimed by China.
Before a China-funded upgrade began in June 2022, Ream had been the site of some joint naval training and exercises between the United States and Cambodia. Cambodia demolished the US-built facility in October 2020.
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A dog with a machine gun strapped to its head
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Experts have warned that autonomous armed drones and robot dogs pose significant ethical issues. This has led to calls for an international ban on autonomous killer robots in warfare.
However, despite ethical concerns, military forces and local enforcement in the US are investing in this technology, reports The Byte.
The manufacturer of the popular Spot Mini robot dog, Boston Dynamics, is adamant that strapping weapons to the robodog is against its terms of service.
A spokesperson for the company said: "We pledge that we will not weaponize our advanced-mobility general-purpose robots or the software we develop that enables advanced robotics and we will not support others to do so."
Meanwhile, the US State Department said on Saturday that the United States was "deeply concerned" over China's military drills in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan, and strongly urged it to act with restraint.
A spokesperson from the State Department said: "Using a normal, routine, and democratic transition as an excuse for military provocations risks escalation and erodes longstanding norms that for decades have maintained peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."
China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, launched the "Joint Sword - 2024A" exercises three days after Lai Ching-te became Taiwan's president, a man Beijing calls a "separatist."
Beijing said the exercises were "punishment" for Lai's Monday inauguration speech, in which he said the two sides of the Taiwan Strait were "not subordinate to each other," which China viewed as a declaration the two are separate countries.
