Officials have confirmed that the U.S. Army has deployed a robot dog, known as the Ghost Robotics Vision 60 Quadrupedal-Unmanned Ground Vehicle (Q-UGV), equipped with an artificial intelligence-powered gun turret to the Middle East for counter-drone testing.
Photos released by the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service show the Q-UGV during rehearsals at Red Sands IEC in the CENTCOM area of responsibility on September 18, 2024. The robot is armed with an AR-15/M16-pattern rifle mounted on a rotating turret featuring an AI-enabled targeting system labeled 'Lone Wolf.'
This system was previously tested during Operation Hard Kill in August at Fort Drum, New York. The U.S. Army described the Q-UGV as a collaborative system developed with industry partners to enhance counter-drone capabilities.
A spokesperson for U.S. Army Central confirmed that the Q-UGV was one of several systems tested alongside 15 counter-drone platforms. The robot dog has been designed to assist military personnel in identifying, tracking, and neutralizing hostile drones with greater accuracy.
The U.S. military has been gradually integrating robot dogs into operations for several years, utilizing them for explosive ordnance disposal, surveillance, and intelligence-gathering tasks.