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 four-legged robots or “robodogs”, equipped with automatic rifles on their backs, were unveiled during the joint “Golden Dragon” military drills with Cambodia earlier this month.

Their handlers demonstrated only their walking capabilities and not their shooting abilities, but the existence of the lethal canines highlights China’s race to develop smart unmanned technology that could prove to be a gamechanger in modern battlefields.

The intensive use of drones during the Ukraine crisis has already 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. It said the US Marine Corps was developing its science fiction-like battlefield robot in the form of a rocket launcher goat.

Marines strapped a rocket launcher to the robotic goat in the California desert last September, testing the machine’s abilities to carry and fire weapons in battle, reported the Military Times.

“Instead of having a Marine handle the weapon system, manipulate the safeties, we could put a remote trigger mechanism on it that allowed it to all be done remotely,” 1st Lt. Aaron Safadi, officer in charge of the group’s emerging technology integration section, said at the time.

“The Marine could be behind cover and concealment, the weapon system could go forward, and the Marine could manipulate the safeties from a safe place while allowing that weapon system to get closer to its target.”