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Korea unveils new military bots
Don't let those cutesy looks fool you, these new XAV robotic military vehicles from Korea pack a bit of a punch. The surveillance XAV (which we're guessing is the one to the left) weighs in at 1.2-tons, and is designed for patrol and information gathering. It's battery powered -- for extra sneakiness -- and has a top speed of about 19MPH. The combat XAV is a a bit speedier, at 28MHP, but weighs only 0.9-tons and is powered by a gasoline engine. Combat XAV also has the riskier role of frontline combat, but luckily both it and its surveillance brother are outfitted with 5.56-millimeter machine guns for a bit of self defense. Both units are still in testing, and will go back to the shop for more upgrades between 2013 and 2020 before they actual are deployed. The Korean military also has some eight-legged dog-like robots in the works to replace human soldiers in some guard duties by 2012. We can't say we feel incredibly confident placing a machine gun in the "hands" of a dumb machine, but luckily the $36 million project has a ways to go before any robots get to fighting.
