The age of man is over. The day of the robot dog is here.

China has showcased dystopian machine-gun carrying robot battle dogs in the latest sign of its rapidly growing military capabilities.

The pack of remote-controlled "robodogs", equipped with automatic rifles on their backs, was unveiled during joint Golden Dragon military drills with Cambodia earlier this month.

Their handlers demonstrated only their walking capabilities, not their shooting abilities, but the existence of the robot battle dogs highlights China's race to develop smart unmanned technology that could prove to be a game-changer on modern battlefields.

The intensive use of drones in the Ukraine conflict has signalled the changing face of warfare as militaries embrace more sophisticated weaponry.

According to Axios, the robot appeared to be made by Unitree, a Chinese company that advertises its products online for thousands of dollars.

All is not yet lost. In between hiring drag performers for the officer's mess, the US military says they're working on robotic warfighters, too.

It's just that their important research into cutting-edge pronouns is their current highest priority.

Last month, it was disclosed that United States Marines special operators were testing robotic dogs armed with guns based on sentry automatic machine guns. Robotic quadrupeds have become increasingly common across the US military in recent years, for everything from bomb disposal to perimeter patrols, but arming them is a newer development.

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Britain has its own initiative, too. It has been testing Boston Dynamics's "Spot" quadruped as well as Ghost Robotics's V60 for future use alongside ground troops. Speaking about the V60, Dave Swan, the lead engineer of FCG Expeditionary Robotics Centre of Expertise, said the "quadruped offers increased situational awareness for soldiers on the ground", with the "potential to act as the eyes and ears for soldiers on the front line". With a gun on its back, however, one of these machines becomes more than a sensor array.

Below, the unarmed version of Spot and the V60.

"Trials have previously taken place with robotic dogs," said a Ministry of Defence spokesman, exploring "the potential they hold for delivering mission-critical supplies, scoping out hazardous areas, or performing combat tasks that are deemed too dangerous for humans."

This was kind of obvious, but as I wrote a long time ago, the world's militaries were looking at the incredible and very cheap performance of commercially-available drones in the Ukraine dropping explosives directly on to vehicles or defensive positions and taking notes.

The conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have proved that wars will increasingly be fought by unmanned machines. "Too dangerous for humans" might justify any number of robot uses. Drones have been a decisive presence on the battlefield since Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022, mostly in the air. There is no shortage of footage of deadly, remote-controlled drones trundling across fields towards tanks and armoured personnel carriers, before delivering decisive blows. In Gaza, meanwhile, Israeli forces have been using quadruped robots to clear tunnels and other cramped locations.

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In Singapore they were deployed to enforce social distancing during the pandemic. But it is not only governments that are finding use for them. Throwflame, an American firm, offers a flamethrower-wielding robot dog, called the Thermonator, for sale on its website, priced at $9,420 (7,420) and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled.

Now that's what I'm talking about.

This video is even better.

The translation:

Throwflame's Thermonator, the first flame-throwing robot dog, is now on sale for $9,420

It has a range of 30 meters.

It is controlled by phone, has a one-hour battery, lidar mapping and an onboard camera.

*Includes world domination.

Don't worry -- we can still take them in hand-to-hand.

(Fake video, of course.)