Ghost Robotics unveils robot dog with a sniper rifle on its back
Ghost Robotics and SWORD International have teamed up to build a robot dog armed with a rifle. The system, called the Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle, or SPUR, adds SWORD's 6.5mm Creedmoor rifle to one of Ghost Robotics' four-legged unmanned ground robots, the Q-UGV.
SPUR was shown at an exhibit during the annual meeting of the Association of the United States Army in Washington. Although Ghost Robotics is working with several other companies to explore security and defense applications for its Q-UGVs, this is the first example of one of these unmanned systems with real weapons mounted on it.
Unarmed Q-UGVs are already in limited use with the 325th Security Forces Squadron of the US Air Force at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida and are being tested in other units of the service. The exact configuration of the 6.5mm weapon inside the SPUR module (how much ammunition it carries and how difficult it is to reload) is not yet known. Ghost Robotics said SPUR can be remotely instructed to fire, clear the chamber and make the weapon safe.
As for the weapon itself, SWORD offers derivatives of the 5.56 x 45mm AR-15/M16 family, as well as similar weapons in larger calibers. The weapon used in the SPUR module appears to have a sound suppressor fitted to the front, which could make it harder for opponents to determine where fire is coming from.
The 6.5mm Creedmoor is not currently widely used by armed forces or other security forces in the United States or elsewhere in the world. However, the US Special Operations Command is reportedly acquiring light machine guns and rifles in this caliber to fill a mid-range niche in performance between existing 5.56 x 45mm and 7.62 x 51mm weapons. Tests have shown that the 6.5mm round actually offers greater range than the various 7.62 x 51mm cartridges currently available to US special operations forces.
So far, very little information about SPUR is available. Ghost Robotics claims the system can engage targets with precision at ranges of up to 1,200 m. The unmanned platform has impressive stabilization capabilities simply due to its four-legged design. The system is designed to ensure the robot can keep operating even if various onboard sensors it may use for movement fail.
The robot can operate in a wide range of conditions both day and night. It is equipped with a Teledyne Flir Boson thermal imager with 640 x 512 resolution, an electro-optical sensor and light-level sensors. SPUR is coated with Cerakote ceramic coating to provide camouflage against third-generation night vision devices. On a single charge it can travel 12.5 km at 7.2 km/h and withstands temperatures from minus 40 to plus 55 degrees Celsius.
“We configure the robot to look like a mammal. When you see it climbing stairs, walking or running, we can turn off all the sensors. It's just a feeling. It's completely blind. The reason we do this is that if a military or mining company uses our robot, it's better for it to function 99.99% of the time”
SPUR has its own targeting system. In earlier US Air Force testing with unarmed Q-UGVs, operators used the Android Team Awareness Kit (ATAK), an app that can be installed on tablets to interact with these unmanned systems and view footage from their onboard cameras. ATAK or similar software could likely be used to let a person aim and fire the robot's rifle at adversaries. The Air Force has also discussed controlling Q-UGVs remotely from centralized command posts through virtual reality headsets.
SPUR may also have some degree of additional autonomy now or in the future, potentially using artificial intelligence to detect and "lock on" to potential threats, even if an operator ultimately must authorize opening fire. Small arms targeting systems offering such capabilities are available on the open market.
Giving the Q-UGV its own weapon would allow it to immediately pursue any targets it encounters, if desired. This could be especially valuable given that robot dogs can enter confined spaces that pose significant risks to their human operators or are simply hard for people to access. The Creedmoor rifle would also let it engage threats at longer distances. This could be very useful for perimeter security tasks, which is already one of its key goals in expeditionary scenarios, as well as for reconnaissance and urban combat.
“These dogs will be an extra set of eyes and ears, processing large volumes of data at strategic points across Tyndall Air Force Base. They will be a huge advantage for our defenders and provide flexibility in how and where our personnel are positioned and respond”
The ability to put Q-UGVs on guard duty adds a new level of capability to these unmanned systems, which could increase their flexibility in various roles. At the same time, the idea of arming quadruped unmanned systems, which already provoke very different reactions compared with more traditional unmanned ground vehicles, may not sit well with some people.
Ghost Robotics' product lineup, including unarmed models, is becoming increasingly autonomous. At the same time, small armed unmanned ground systems are hardly new, and the military benefit of adding weapon systems to four-legged designs is obvious.
