The Indian Army has developed a robot dog capable of supporting both surveillance and combat missions.
Called the Multi-Utility Legged Equipment (MULE), the tech was unveiled during the recently concluded North-Tech Symposium 2023 in northernmost India.
According to the service, the four-legged droid has a sleek design and carries thermal cameras and radars.
The ground vehicle’s software can be loaded with pre-fed missions to enable autonomous navigation.
Operators can also control the MULE through Wi-Fi for short-range missions, while a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) can be used for operations in remote locations up to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) away.
Weapons Payload
The MULE has a payload capacity of 12 kilograms (26.5 pounds).
Apart from cameras and sensors, the tech can be mounted with small arms to fire at enemy positions while keeping soldiers away from harm.
It can traverse in all terrains, including snowy and rough. The robot can even climb mountains, with climb steps as high as 18 centimeters.
According to engineer Aryan Singh, one application of the MULE is to know the exact location of enemies inside a building or facility.
“The operator will find out where the enemy exactly is inside the room and the firing platform can be used to shoot down the enemy,” he said.