The robot made its debut on Monday at Russia’s Army-2022 International Military-Technical Forum, a weapons conference that will continue throughout the week. The arms conference comes amid Russia’s war with Ukraine, which has been going on for nearly six months. A video shared online by RIA Novosti, a state-run news agency, shows the robot roaming the floor of a conference room on what appear to be four legs. The robot’s legs can bend, turn the robot and carry it back and forth. The legs can also lower the robot so that it appears to be on the ground. Twitter user Rob Lee shared a video posted by RIA Novosti on Telegram. A representative of the engineers who developed the robot told the Russian news agency that the robot can work in civilian or war scenarios. It can travel through war-torn areas to deliver medicine and survey the environment, the spokesman said, and can also move or fire weapons. RIA Novosti also said in a Telegram post that the robot can “engage in target identification, patrolling and security,” according to an English translation reported by Vice. Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the opening ceremony of the International Military-Technical Forum Army-2022 on August 15 in Kubinka, outside Moscow, Russia. At the event, a Russian engineering company unveiled a robotic dog capable of carrying and firing weapons. Contributor/Getty Images Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared at the conference’s opening ceremony on Monday to address domestic and international participants. In that speech, he described the event as one where visiting military professionals from other countries can learn about Russia’s developments in military equipment. Putin spoke generally of equipment that he said would “shape the ‘tomorrow’ of our armed forces,” but did not specifically mention the robot dog or any other tool by name. “We are talking about high-precision weapons and robotics, combat systems based on new physical principles,” Putin said. “Many of them are years, maybe even decades ahead of their foreign counterparts and significantly superior in tactical and technical characteristics.” The robot dog seen at the Army-2022 conference in Moscow isn’t the first appearance of dog-like military equipment. In the US, the Portland National Guard received its own four-legged robot earlier this year to use for security and surveillance, according to Military.com. A police department in Florida also received another robot dog, known as SPOT, earlier this year. The SPOT could be used “in exceptional situations involving a threat to human life and/or danger to First Responders,” police said at the time. The US Department of Defense declined Newsweek’s request for comment when contacted on Monday.
