

The U.S. military's small, but growing, arsenal of armed robots has a new addition. Bot-maker Foster-Miller has shipped the first of its new killer machines to the Defense Department's Combatting Terrorism Technology Support Office.

The 350-pound MAARS (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System) machine can carry a 40mm grenade launcher or a M240B medium machine gun. Or, if the robot's operators want their killer 'bot to be a little less-lethal, the thing can be equipped with a laser dazzler, a loudspeaker, or pepper spray.

After years of safety testing and modifications, three of MAARS kill-bot predecessors were sent to Iraq in 2007. But after nearly nine months in the field, safety concerns (among other reasons) have kept those machines from firing a shot in combat.

So MAARS' makers keep emphasizing how safe their lethal machine is. Software controls allow the robot's driver to select fire and no-fire zones. A mechanical range fan keeps MAARS' gun pointed away from friendly positions. "MAARS was developed with safety as the number one goal... [and] will continue to be tested exhaustively under various conditions in the coming months to ensure full compliance with standards and a safety release for fielding," the company says in a statement, which goes on to reinforce that the robot is "human-operated."

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