Anti-tank dogs didn’t work 80 years ago, but, hey, now we have computers and robots

From Vice

Germans invading the Soviet Union in 1941 were startled to see dogs running at panzers and trying to crawl beneath the tanks. In Hitler Moves East, author Paul Carell mentions dogs with what looked like antenna strapped to their backs. Inspection of the dogs, killed by German soldiers, with good reason, showed the antenna were activation rods for explosive vests the dogs wore. Interrogation of prisoners showed the Red Army trained the suicide dogs to crawl beneath tanks, tripping the activation rod, detonating the explosives.

Whether suicide dogs actually existed is a matter of debate, but continuing the Russian penchant for making anything a weapon, a developer at the Russian arms fair this week demonstrated a robotic Fido with an RPG strapped to its back.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3pwxg/robot-dog-with-rpg-strapped-to-its-back-demoed-at-russian-arms-fair?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter