'Robodogs' to patrol Florida Air Force Base

PANAMA CITY, Fla. - The United States Air Force has announced that Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, Florida, will be one of the first to incorporate “semi-autonomous robot dogs” into their defense regiment.

The new technology is part of a project carried out with Ghost Robotics. It is aimed at boosting security patrolling operations, the air force said in a statement. 

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“We will be able to drive them via a virtual-reality headset within our Base Defense Operations Center,” Major Jordan Criss, 325th Security Forces Squadron commander, said. “We will be able to see exactly what the robot dog is detecting through its mobile camera and sensor platform if desired. We will also be able to issue verbal commands to a person or people through a radio attached to the dogs.”

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The military said the “computerized canines” are not intended to replace military working dogs. They are “an extra set of eyes and ears while computing large amounts of data at strategic locations.” Defenders in this case would be able to focus more on “training, security and overall situational awareness across the base.”