Battlebots!

Introducing Talon, the UCV that’s about to start patrolling with Stryker in Iraq. More pictures and info here and here (video, too!).

Among their many advantages, robots don’t get homesick, stay out past curfew, or try to date your sister. That may explain why Korea is also getting in on the act:

The Defense Ministry said yesterday that it would install armed robots to guard the country’s border with North Korea. The machines, a ministry official contended, would enable an eventual reduction in the thousands of soldiers who now are posted along the demilitarized zone.

According to officials, 250 robots, which will cost 80 million won ($79,000) a piece, are to be set up between 2007 to 2011 along the 252-kilometer-long (155-mile) no man’s land. The robots, developed by a local company, will be equipped with high-tech surveillance cameras including infrared sensors and a K-3 assault rifle that has a range of one kilometer. Defense Ministry officials said that the robots would be able to recognize a threat and fire on their own, but most likely soldiers controlling the robots would first identify potential targets through cameras and then issue engage orders to the robots.

BBC has the story, too. Yes, this is starting to sound like something I once hear Arnold Schwartzenegger say, and not about the fence between Imperial Beach and Tijuana, either. With all this talk of new missions for the USFK, this may be a good time to rule out defending either Korea from a new mechanical master-race.

Here’s a link to the manufacturer of the Korean bots–definitely not as cool to look at, however. Here’s some additional information about the system (with a treat for you Linux fans). As it turns out, Korea has already deployed two of these bots to Iraq, although there’s no information about whether the Zaitun brigade has had the opportunity to put them to the test while hiding inside a walled fortress in the safest Kurdish area in Iraq.