Battlefield 2042’s robot dogs are actually real and they’re terrifying

Battlefield 2042’s robot dogs; the Rangers, exist in real life. And they too can have all sorts of guns strapped to their metal K9 bodies.

The Ranger in Battlefield 2042 is a robot dog that the player can summon during battle for support. Dogs have appeared in multiplayer shooters before, but not like this. Unlike previous dogs, these K9s are packing heat – and plenty of it.

Battlefield 2042 is the series’ next foray into futuristic warfare, so robots were always likely to play a role. The Rangers have also been featured prominently in the game’s marketing materials, so it’s clear they will be an important part of Battlefield 2042’s gameplay.

Yet the Rangers are far from fictitious, in fact, they are based on real advances in robotics, and they are indeed designed with the battlefield in mind.

The above image is a real-life robot ‘dog’, known as a Vision 60 and built by a company called Ghost Robotics in partnership with munitions specialists Sword International. It’s equipped with a weapon known as a SPUR. This stands for “special purpose unmanned rifle”.

Battlefield 2042 robot dogs in real life

The Vision 60 unit is designed for long-distance and night warfare. It’s equipped with long-range thermal cameras for identifying targets in the dark and from far away. This is pretty scary when you think about the damage they could do, and before the enemy has any clue they’re being targeted.

While it’s unclear if the US military is interested in using real-life robot dogs in actual combat zones, the manufacturers seen confident that their creations will enter real battlefields one day. Their website reads, “The SWORD Defense Systems SPUR is the future of unmanned weapon systems, and that future is now.”

• Read More: Battlefield 2042: Release date, specialists, game modes, maps, new features

Who knows, perhaps these robot dogs will be in use a lot sooner than 2042. Although the knowledge that such inventions are real adds a whole new level of authenticity to Battlefield 2042.

Battlefield 2042 will arrive on November 19, 2021. The game is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC.