The government is testing out yet another ammunition-ready automaton, this time by HDT Global, as a new recruit for the battlefield. At a four-day robotics testing event in the U.S. Army's Fort Benning post in Georgia, select commercial companies showed off just how powerful robot soldiers can be.

The robots were made to fire machine guns with live ammunition, all monitored by a group of senior military officers for judgement. Companies like Lockheed Martin, iRobot, 5D Robotics and HDT demonstrated robots that had autonomous ability, could carry heavy loads, and shoot a machine gun.