The future looks worse than a terminator movie, because the United States company Skyborne Technologies presented the CODiAQ, a direct-action quadruped that combines all-terrain mobility with modular lethal packages such as a 40mm grenade launcher and a 12-gauge shotgun module. When I refer to modular it means that the platform accepts different payloads depending on the mission.

The idea is clear, to give small units a remote option of precise lethality, controlled by a single operator and ready to deploy in minutes, the heart of the system is the combination of robust hardware and artificial intelligence-assisted targeting.

The TEOB electronic optical target box provides onboard processing to identify, track and calculate ballistics in real time, both day and night. With IP67 certification, resistance to dust and water, the robot crosses mud, climbs stairs and enters debris, difficult tasks for traditional vehicles.

Skyborne Technologies' sales pitch is that operators can be trained quickly and that the machine reduces human exposure in dangerous scenarios while delivering precision in attacks, but that same promise carries moral weight, lethality automation and navigational autonomy changing the dynamics of combat.

Man-machine teams can operate faster and at a greater distance from the risk, and aerial and ground drones will be able to coordinate synchronized attacks, but between us we know how it will work, we have seen it in history, machines being used to attack humans. Skyborne Technologies talks about a networked ecosystem, server mic integration, force multipliers and low-cost solutions, but also hungers for questions about control, responsibility and conflict escalation when life and death decisions are mediated by software, sensors and AI.

There is also the risk of adoption of these platforms by state or non-state actors, in addition to misuse and even becoming targets of cyber attacks. When connected robots are hackable, the situation is reversed. Skyborne Technologies says it partners with the US government and approves the system in real-world scenarios, showing how quickly this technology can move from the lab to the field.