News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Russia has unveiled a terrifying 4.5-tonne bulletproof robot that can walk and hold weapons in its giant claws - and looks straight out of sci-fi films like Avatar and Robocop.

The Avatar-style 'bot was revealed by Kalashnikov at the Army 2018 Fair just outside Moscow, as a 'demonstration of what is to come.'

The robot can walk and has space in a cabin for people to sit and operate the robot from inside and can hold and move objects with its claws, including weapons.

The pilots are protected from bullets, debris and any other dangerous object behind the armoured glass and metal encasement.

The gold robot, which has been called Igorek, is still under construction and the creators do not wish to reveal all its characteristics until they have finished.

(Image: CEN/kalashnikov.media) (Image: 20th Century Fox) (Image: Orion Pictures)

It looks eerily like the Amplified Mobility Platform (AMP) mech suits that humans use in James Cameron's sci-fi classic.

In the 2009 flick the Pandora Utility Suit is used by the army as they try to take over the Na'vi.

While Kalashnikov are remaining tight-lipped on any further details at the moment, Igorek is likely to be used to magnify soldiers' strength while providing protection from military and environmental threats - just like the AMP suits in Avatar.

(Image: CEN/kalashnikov.media)

Other people have also compared the robot to the ?D-209 (Enforcement Droid series 209) from the Robocop series.

Vladimir Dmitriev from the Kalashnikov group, said: "This robot is probably one of the hottest new models of the 'Army 2018'.

"Currently it is only a demonstration of the path we are planning on following.

"We understand that there are robotic machines driving on caterpillar and wheel drive, we also understand that there will be demand for anthropomorphic automatic movable systems."

(Image: CEN/kalashnikov.media) (Image: 20th Century Fox)

The Kalashnikov corporation is Russia's largest rifle and assault weapons manufacturer. These days it produces some 95 percent of all small arms in the country and supplies more than 27 countries across the globe.

It found fame with the production of the AK-47 assault weapon - named after its inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov and colloquially known as the 'Kalashnikov'

A 2004 report found that of the 500 million estimated firearms in the world, some 100 million were made by the Kalashnikov operation - and 75 percent of which as AK-47s.