Video: Big Dog Is Back

Holy crap, this thing is becoming pretty legit. However, busting through the bushes at :34 makes me only think about an army of robots blasting through some man-made barricade with the intent to kill everything in it's path...I suppose it's only a matter of time right? :)

"Bulls of wrath" anyone?

This looks perfect. How much longer before I can buy one to retrieve ducks? I'm not really a dog guy, but I'm too lazy to retrieve on my own. Do they swim?

Uhhh....in what way is this less terrifying. If anything it's more so. There are two of them now. They're multiplying.

Imagine riding that to school...

@corwinb - Exactly! Crashing through a bush may be more intense, but the prospect of packs of these things running around together is far creepier imo

@scienceguy - Haha I was just about to suggest riding this around campus. Great minds

Robot IQ test: Can it get me a beer from the refrigerator, or will it have to bring me the whole damn refrigerator while shaking the hell out of my beer on the way?

Why it is so loud? It kind of away its location and any friendly around it.

I fail to see what is so "terrifying" about this machine.

As developmental proto types, these robots are cool and I am anxious to what the future may bring.

There was another more silent, efficient, advanced and cheaper product developed years and years ago. Not only can it run on fuel readily available in most vegetated areas. It is also equipped with intelligent software that enables it to identify refill fuel without a supervisor.

It's called a pack animal

They need a version that is 50 feet tall and has lasers in its head, then those rebel scum will pay.

PS I want to ride it too.

@haffa
but can your mule support WIFI?

Have it beat. Don't get me wrong, but I love Big Dog, I get a lot of inspiration from Boston Dynamics, But I came up with something that was a little more efficient.

It's sort of like M.U.L.E., but I changed the chassis to a crusher system, and added a bigger gun. Change out the Javelins on M.U.L.E. with a more selective fire Hydra rocket pod(round looking thing on the winglets of an Apache).

It is designed for more squad support, but If you follow a crusher in a Humvee you WILL get spinal injuries. I'm confident in the UGV's abilities to outpace the Big Dog and at least match it in maneuverability, while absolutely slamming the book shut on squad support.

Once again, engineers, little help here.

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.
Mark Twain

haffa - Putting animals in war is cruel - they could get hurt. PETA told me so, and my weak vegan brain lacks the protein to disagree.

Personally, I think suicide-vest dogs trained to track and blast would be a great way to hunt down terrorist in their holes while also doing Bob Barker a solid: "help reduce the pet population, have your pet turned into a military WMD!"

The simple truth is that society is so backwards that we can watch an entire movie of people killing people (even torturing people to death slowly) and not flinch, but you cut the tounge off of one puppy and people freak out.

Hesitate shooting zombie-mom in the head and people yell at the screen "shoot her!," but choak out one dog with super-rabies and people cry for days.

So, of course, millions of dollars to save the lives of mules is well worth while.

Infantry do not need a ride-alongside in combat robot - they need a ride-into combat without me robot.

Haffa, I was thinking the same thing. I think an armored horse would be way more badass than this thing and it would be a lot less expensive.

@Oakspar77777

In WWII the Russians tried to train bomb carrying dogs to crawl under German tanks. The problem was they did not have any German tank to use to train the dogs so they used their own tanks. Guess what happened? When released the dogs would crawl under the nearest Russian tank.

Everyone who is trying to say we should just use animals must never be around them. Yes you can train them and such and they eat almost anything but they're still animals. They can be unpredictable, get spooked and run off, attack you, unexpectedly make noise and give away your position,get tired and just lay down, any number of things that you have no control over because they're big and strong. This is great because it goes all terrain just like the animals with none of the unpredictable side effects or fatigue issues. Also, you can give it GPS coordinates and send it to a point. its pretty hard to tell a horse where to go without sending a soldier with it. They've already made it pretty quiet compared to the first models and I would be one of the future models will be battery or hybrid powered for complete silence when its needed.

Bark Ark! Bark Ark!

Lol, ..... snort....

Guys, why are we blowing up on Haffa for his point? The frigging Romans used war hounds, we use hounds today to track down narcotics and fugitives, and we use them for bomb sniffing and base protection.

Now, I don't say we do what the Russians tried and have anti-tank dogs that just crawl under tanks and detonate (failed miserably, dogs blew up Russian tanks because of a flaw in training. Karma for ya), but Animals will be used for war, security, and prevention till animals no longer exist.

Pack mules do their job well to. YOU gonna carry hundreds of pounds on a hellish downward hike under enemy fire?

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.
Mark Twain

I'm gonna take the first bit back, I skimmed and thought you two were slamming him.

My bad...

Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.
Mark Twain

I do not understand why the need for a dog with 4 legs. Isn't it much easier to use a machine with alligators? When the dog falls down, what does it happen? Is it capable to stand up alone? These are questions that remain unanswered.

"They say it got smart...decided our fate in a microsecond."

Many good points.Police use dogs,they are there as support but they are also expected to take a bullet for the officer.The difference is, in war if your pack animal takes a hit how many units will have a qualified veterinarian?animals can be easily distracted and are prone to high frequency noise.Easy to use in war to harass a foe who uses animals in combat.But a robot....If it steps on a land mine.Just replace the leg.It can sit in storage for years till needed with no training or feeding, Will not spook, Can serve as a reusable weapons platform.I could see one of these going into combat with a pair of Vulcan mini guns mounted on either side manned by a soldier.And that's just my first thought.The uses would be unlimited.They could have camper shell like packs with assorted mix and match weapons packs, medical pack, fuel follows etc.I am no bleeding heart.If it came to 2 men or one animal....Bye bye fido.

Great nice to see this tech moving along.

Manned by a soldier? Waste of manpower, plus he will be able to defend himself better if he is mobile instead of sitting on a huge target. Mount the miniguns as you said, armor that bad boy up.... but drop a video feed to a 18 year old, cheeto eating, non girlfriend having first person shooter expert and let him go to town. All that time put to playing Modern Warfare will actual pay some dividends. Now that is terrifying :)

I believe that was the intent pf phillip_faugno. Not to have the soldier riding the machine, but to be remotely controlling it and its guns.