Chinese robots that were running just yesterday will soon wear combat uniforms...

China is accelerating its preparations for battlefield deployment by fully embracing the military application of humanoid robots.
At a recent World Humanoid Robot Conference held in Beijing, robots demonstrating running, dancing, and boxing caught the audience's attention. However, immediately following the conference, the PLA Daily—the official newspaper of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA)—strongly urged that cutting-edge technology must be rapidly transferred from laboratories to military training grounds to cultivate robotic "combatants."
Actual movements toward military deployment have also been detected. According to government records, including over 100 military procurement notices, academic research, and patents obtained by Reuters on the 7th (local time), the Chinese Ministry of Defense is accelerating military research and battlefield deployment of humanoid robots.
It appears that Chinese military authorities are conducting robot testing tailored to battlefield environments and are intensifying data collection to strengthen robot perception/manipulation systems and methods for joint operations with soldiers.
According to Bank of America (BofA) Global Research, Chinese manufacturers account for approximately 95% of global humanoid robot shipments. This overwhelming manufacturing capability and market dominance are serving as key drivers supporting the PLA's military robot development.
A representative use case envisioned by Chinese military researchers is urban conflict. Researchers at the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) presented a scenario where a platoon consisting of humanoid and quadruped robots cooperates with ground forces to search and clear enemy buildings.
Experts believe that humanoid robots, utilizing their hands and feet, will be able to perform reconnaissance and combat missions in complex structures such as buildings, tunnels, and the interiors of ships.
Participation from major defense contractors is also active. The state-owned defense enterprise NORINCO unveiled "Fuxi," a full-scale humanoid robot capable of sentry duty and all-weather reconnaissance. By combining it with a remote control system, the burden of autonomous decision-making on the robot is reduced, allowing for human-controlled operation.
However, some point out that it may be difficult to deploy armed robots on a large scale in actual combat immediately due to battlefield uncertainty and power consumption issues. Ethical and legal challenges that autonomous weapons must solve also remain, such as rules of engagement, distinguishing civilians, and recognizing surrender signals.
Despite these concerns, experts predict that if technological advancements and production cost reductions are achieved, humanoid robots will be deployed in earnest on the battlefield within 5 to 10 years.
It looks like we're screwed...