Boston Dynamics’ Spot will clear shells and munitions from around Kiev, according to Foreign Policy report
According to Foreign Policy’s report, the US Army has apparently agreed to donate a robot dog to aid a charity cleaning up battlefields around Kiev. This is a claim that cites a source.
HALO Trust, a US-based demining organization which has received multiple government contracts to work in Ukraine, will reportedly use Spot – a Boston Dynamics robot dog – to remove mines, mortar shells and unexploded munitions in formerly Russian-controlled areas near the capital Kiev, according to the group’s executive director Chris Whatley, who spoke to Foreign Policy.
Whatley asserts that Spot was tested last year during a session. “worked well”It is used to remove small and volatile rounds, similar to those currently being used in Ukraine. Equipped with a robotic arm instead of its head, Spot can collect unexploded munitions in pits, where the shells can be safely detonated in batches of up to 100 without posing any risk to either civilians or any of HALO’s 10 teams that are currently working in Ukraine.
“If you can just move something without endangering a human and move it far enough that you can take it to a place where it can be safely detonated with other items, you move up the curve massively,” Whatley was quoted as saying. According to him, deminers need at least six weeks training. Human resources are limited and robotic assistance is currently in high demand.
Foreign Policy noted that neither Boston Dynamics (which develops and manufactures the Spot robot dog dogs) nor the US Army, who supposedly authorized its transfer, have provided any comment.
Nikolas Noel, Boston Dynamics’ marketing director and communications director, did send an email to Foreign Policy “In general, Spot is an effective tool for keeping people out of harm’s way, and the robot is often used to inspect potentially hazardous materials from a safe distance.”
Noel said that Boston Dynamics Terms and Conditions prevented the company from obtaining it. “being weaponized or used for purposes of harm or intimidation.”
Spot can be taught to perform simple tasks but cannot be used in combat situations. Spot needs to be controlled manually by humans.
Commenting on last year’s training session, Whatley noted that it took 10-15 minutes for operators to be able to “regularly, safely pick up rounds and not have them drop out of the dog’s mouth.”
Meri Akopyan (Ukraine’s Deputy Interior Minister) says that there are currently 300,000.00 km of Ukrainian landmine-prone territory. The operation will take between five and ten years.
It was also reported by the UN Offices for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in May that the process could take years to complete. “anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines, as well as other unexploded or abandoned ammunition left behind in Ukraine,”Which “threaten the lives of millions of people.”
Meanwhile, Russian and allied forces have also been carrying out demining operations on the territories of the Donbass region, as the head of the ministry of emergency situations of the Donetsk People’s Republic stated back in late March that it could also take around 10 years to clear the area of mines left behind by the Ukrainian armed forces.
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