Iranian military to put rolling robot harbingers of death on its front lines

10 Mar 2015

With tensions in the Middle East continuing to raise fears of possible conflicts, the Iranian military has stated it does not intend to put soldiers on the front line, but rolling robot weapons platforms.

The move towards more remote-controlled operating armed units has been a gradual one, as the technology to make robots just as capable of traversing various terrain is still being developed, most noticeably by Google-owned Boston Dynamics in the US, which has spawned a series of four and two-legged machines to help carry equipment on the battlefield.

However, according to Iranian news outlet Fars News Agency, the commander of the Iranian armed forces, Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, has said the country’s Research and Self-sufficiency Jihad Organization – similar to DARPA in the US – is working on robot technology.

Speaking of its power, Pourdastan said it will house a series of machine guns and rocket launchers that will be operated by a soldier from a considerable distance, much like the US military and its drone operations in the Middle East that are controlled from a remote area in the US.

While little more is known of Iran’s killer robot, it wouldn’t be the first time the country claimed it had created its own piece of advanced technology, most notably the claim it had developed its own stealth fighter aircraft, only for it to be shown to be little more than a visual mock-up.

Robot soldiers illustration via Shutterstock

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com