This robot dog was made to save soldiers’ lives as US races into new era of autonomous warfare

The US Army is accelerating its shift towards autonomous systems as drones and counter-drone weapons become central to modern warfare. Displays at its annual conference in Washington showed how the military and defence firms are trying to field systems quickly while adapting to threats that can outpace existing defences.

Ondas demonstrated Scout, a four-legged robot designed to enter dangerous buildings and tunnels ahead of soldiers and send images to an operator. Its subsidiary Mistral has secured more than $240 million in orders under a $982 million Army contract for unmanned systems; Ondas also acquired DZYNE Technologies in a deal valued at about $875 million. DZYNE’s systems include a handheld device to disable drones and an interceptor designed to bring down faster models such as Shahed-class attack drones.