The Talon

Science-fiction buffs seeing the military's armed Talon robot for the first time can't help but make comparisons to famous movie robots... ...The Talon reminds this reporter of one of the more menacing robots of the movies, ED-209, which goes berserk in the 1987 film "RoboCop." What makes the Talon important is that it's the first ground robot to carry arms. "It's a bit of a turning point," Shachtman said. "It's a step everyone knew was coming at some point. It's still a little surprising when it finally hits." Luckily, there's no danger of the Talon pulling an ED-209. It's teleoperated, meaning it's run by a human operator, much like a radio-controlled toy car you might buy your child for Christmas. With one big difference: That toy car can't cut a bus in half. Talon robots can carry M240 or M249 machine guns, Barrett 50-caliber rifles, 40-millimeter grenade launchers and anti-tank rocket launchers...

The Talon