Radio Controlled Armed Robots On Patrol In Iraq

The future is here, although some of the kinks are not yet worked out. The U.S. has deployed the first of its S.W.O.R.D.S. (special weapons operations remote recon direct action systems) robots and they are armed and on patrol in Iraq.
The swords are each equipped with an m-249 machine gun. They are refitted versions of bomb disposal robots that have been extensivly used throughout the country since 2004.
There have been issues in the past with the remote control devices. The biggest problem has been the tendency they have from time to time to just spin out of control. Officials at the pentagon believe that since the s.w.o.r.d.s retooling that the problem is now under control. Another issue the machines had was that there was often a lag time of over 8 seconds between the time an order was sent and the machine would respond, which could be a real problem in a combat situation. The Pentagon believes it has worked this kink out as well. The S.w.o.r.d.s have also been fitted with kill switches in order that they can just be shut down if they unexpectedly malfunction.
There is a desire on the part of the Pentagon to build and deploy more s.w.o.r.d.s but there are budget constraints and also there is a desire to see how the devices perform first before any further commitment is made to the program.