In a trial by the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MOD), advanced robotic systems – including robot dogs – have successfully demonstrated their capability to detect and defuse bomb threats.

Bomb disposal operations are extremely hazardous. To significantly reduce the risk to military personnel, the MOD is trialling a new approach to performing bomb disposal operations.

In trials led by the MOD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), bomb disposal robot dogs were used to detect and defuse bomb threats.

In a series of scenarios, the robot dog was asked to perform tasks including opening and closing doors autonomously, navigating stairs, inspecting improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and firing disruptors at the IEDs to render them safe.

Other robotic systems used in the trial included drones equipped with AI to identify threats and monitor safety cordons.

The trials were conducted with support from various tech and defence firms including L3Harris, Marlborough Communications Ltd and...