Chapter 451: One of Its Kind
“The agile model of this robot doesn’t exceed 20 kilograms in weight. It’s this ultra-lightness that allows them to move quickly and even climb walls for a short time. If armor is installed on these robots, then they may be bulletproof, but the additional weight would nullify its function as an agile robot.”
The youth spread his hands and responded.
Everyone nodded with understanding. Indeed, this kind of robot seemed like a mere nuisance at first glance and it did not even have a gun. It might be of little use in regular combat encounters, but when used for tactical applications such as counter-terrorism and surprise attacks, it could perform miraculously.
“In addition to this model, XTN-004 has several other models that can adapt to more complex situations. If you’re interested, you can learn more about it, but our meeting time is limited, so I won’t list them here.”
The youth pushed up his gold-rimmed gla.s.ses and then dragged the video progress bar to freeze the frame on a robot that had first come out. “XTN-002 — this one may be more to General Lawrence’s taste.”
As he said, he looked at the soldier who had just asked about bullet-proofing. “This is a heavy-duty robot. It has an animalistic design. It’s 231cm tall, 421cm long, weighs 420 kg, and has a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour. It’s not very heavy, but only because we’re aware of the issue of mobility. To allow the drone to carry as much weight as possible, we have reduced a lot of unnecessary weight.
“For example, its sh.e.l.l is made of special carbon-fiber ceramic composite. Light weapons such as ordinary rifles and submachine guns cannot cause any damage to them. Only anti-materiel sniper rifles are able to damage them, but unless they hit the smart processor in the body, it’d be difficult to paralyze the XTN-002 with a single shot.
“At the same time, XTN-002’s important internal components have a ‘metal jacket’ to create a Faraday cage, which can effectively isolate electromagnetic pulse interference and prevent strikes from electromagnetic bombs.
“And its vision system consists of both infrared vision and traditional electronic vision. The two visions complement each other and can find any hidden target.
“As for the firepower system, XTN-002 uses the airborne M61Al ‘Vulcan’ 6-barrel rapid-fire cannon by default. The caliber of this series ranges from 5.56mm to 25mm. With this firepower attack, any targets without heavy armor within 100 meters wouldn’t survive. Of course, you can also choose to carry other types of weapons such as bazookas and other heavy weapons. The replacement is very simple and you can even handle it yourself.”
In accordance with the words of the youth, a scaled-down holographic image of XTN-002 appeared out of thin air on the conference table in front of everyone, along with a human body for size comparison.
With that, the youth concluded. “In short, XTN-002 is a simple, efficient, and durable tactical weapon. It’s like a tank packed in a drone. It may not have the ability to dominate flat ground like a tank, but it’s able to adapt to complex and unpredictable environments such as street combat, swamps, and jungles. Tanks can’t compare to its mobility and agility at all.”
Everyone listened in deep fascination. Indeed, XTN-002 was like an enlarged version of an elephant, except that there were two Vulcan cannons for firepower. This robot could completely replace tanks in more complex street combat. Of course, this was a.s.suming that its AI was that smart.
“Still, ultimately, XTN-002 hasn’t experienced actual combat.”
Another general who looked like a brown bear suddenly spoke.
“I’m sorry, that’s because we’ve only developed it recently and there has been no suitable actual combat record.”
The young man said helplessly, “We have gone through tens of thousands of tests. Here, you may refer to these test data sets at any time. In terms of actual combat, there’s only the rebel extermination operation in Niger. You can also see that we only used the XTN-002 to prevent this group of people from escaping. Before it was put into action, the entire base of more than 300 rebels had surrendered fully.
“But you don’t have to be disappointed because we’ll continue to accept commissions from various countries in the African Continent to use these robots for establishing public order and destroying rebels. If you plan to buy, you can wait and see first. We’re not in a hurry.”
Everyone nodded matter-of-factly.
“Next, we have this humanoid robot.”
The youth continued to drag the progress bar to show on the screen the humanoid robot that killed the rebel general. “This is the most conventional model of XTN-003.
“XTN-003 inherits the design of Project Xingtian. As you can see, this type of drone isn’t as good as XTN-002 in terms of armor thickness and tonnage. In terms of agility, it’s not as good as XTN-004. As befitting its model, it’s just a conventional combat robot.”
The youth spoke frankly. The 3D image of XTN-002 was quickly moved aside and the center of the conference table displayed an XTN-003 of the same size.
“XTN-003, 190cm tall and weighs 134 kg, is a humanoid combat robot. It has the same vision system as other robots and can withstand light weapons. The armor thickness is half that of XTN-002.
“Its moving speed is slightly higher than that of humans, reaching 45 kilometers per hour, and it also has the ability to block electromagnetic pulse interference. At the same time, it can perform all human actions. Whether it’s close combat or long-range shooting, it excels at everything.”
“So, what are the advantages of this robot?”
Someone asked suddenly.
“The advantage of XTN-003 is that it’s a jack of all trades. No matter the occasion, it can exert its full power without any special restrictions, just like us humans.”
The youth immediately replied, “XTN-003 can use any weapon and can conduct high-intensity combat, whether it’s manipulating artillery or driving a car, whether it’s used in street fights or ambushes. Even when its weapon has run out of ammunition, it can grab the enemy’s weapon to fight. It’s like a special soldier who is impenetrable and indefatigable, and is also the trump card in special forces!”
“What!”
After hearing these words, everyone could not sit still. The brown-bear-like soldier among them stared with widened eyes, just like a child. “It’s so smart that it can drive a car?”
At this, the young man could not help but laugh. “Driving a car isn’t that unusual. What if I say that it only needs additional data input to be able to drive tanks and airplanes as well?”
Everyone was even more startled. “Impossible. It’s enough of a miracle that your robot AI can walk on two legs and maintain the same agility as ordinary people. If it can still drive airplanes and tanks, wouldn’t it be able to completely replace human soldiers? ”
“I understand what you’re thinking. It’s normal to have doubts about the intelligence of this kind of AI.”
The young man pressed his hands and let everyone settle back down first before he said genially, “But if you don’t believe it, after our first meeting, you can come and watch us operate the XTN-003 robot at the experimental site. At the same time, once we receive commissions from countries in the African Continent, we’ll try our best to send XTN-003 for actual combat demonstrations. You can even join our commanders to observe the actual combat from a distance.”
“We’re also looking forward to this opportunity.”
These high-ranking officials and generals all looked at each other, nodded, and managed to suppress the booming uncertainty in their hearts.
“As for what you said about how XTN-003 can replace human soldiers — isn’t this the dream of human progress?”
The youth continued to speak, “In Blacklight Biotechnology’s imagination, with the progress of human civilization, the frequency of future wars will inevitably decrease and the scale of conventional garrisons will also become smaller and smaller. These remnants will be positions filled up by robots and drones.
“It’s even possible that there will be zero casualties in future wars and victory or defeat will be up to the robots...”
Hearing that the youth was looking toward the future, everyone wore a thoughtful look. Indeed, XTN-003 seemed to be too intelligent to be realistic, but was this not in line with the situation of future wars?
“Moreover, in our vision, these robots can be used for more than just military purposes.”
The young man continued. “As long as you reduce the thickness of the armor and reduce the firepower level, it will be a perfect police robot. I believe you all know what this signifies.”
He said urgently, “Even if military robots were to be upgraded in the future, rest a.s.sured that these discarded robots won’t become a pile of sc.r.a.p metal. Whether it’s for police use or even for the most difficult labor required on construction sites and farms, it would be a walk in the park for these robots...”
Upon hearing this, everyone raised their heads abruptly and finally looked surprised. One of the military personnel whispered, “It’s true... If the AI program of this kind of robot can even adapt to war, then using it as a police robot or even an industrial robot would already be overkill.”
The young man took a sip of water from the gla.s.s in front of him and then continued. “In addition, there are various kinds of drones that you have seen, such as the Mark-1 model —”
With that, the holographic projection of XTN-003 automatically moved to one side and a flying-saucer-shaped drone appeared in the center of the conference table.
“The Mark-001 drone has a diameter of 75 cm and a height of 20 cm. It’s equipped with an ion pulse vector propulsion unit, has a maximum cruise speed of 120 kilometers per hour and a flying noise of 20 decibels, which is equivalent to the rustle you hear when the wind blows through the leaves. It’s also equipped with a face-scanning system, coupled with a 12K high-definition zoom camera, so it’s able to confirm the ident.i.ty of a person up to 100 meters away, with an accuracy rate of 99%. Even at night, it converts to its night vision mode and there’s no difference from daytime.
“And its sh.e.l.l utilizes a smart protective color system, which can change to several camouflage colors including sky blue, black, brown camouflage, and green camouflage. This is enough to accomplish invisible surveillance activities in most environments.”
The youth continued to explain, “As for the weapon system, there’s a weapon base in the bottom hold of the drone, which can carry several light weapons such as stun guns, flare guns, and light pistols.
“Of course, it can also carry nothing. If it’s not equipped, it will be a pure spy drone. If it’s equipped, it can be used for patrol and search missions. The actual combat video you’ve just seen is all footage taken by the Mark-1.
“The Mark-001 is only the most common model. Just like the XTN robot, the Mark drone is divided into dozens of models, with sizes ranging from micro-drones of a few centimeters to heavy-duty drones that can carry an XTN-002. The latter comprises multiple practical combat capabilities such as spy monitoring, tactical operations, and vehicle loading.
“Then, there’s the Mark-002 model...”
Following that, the youth vividly explained the specifications of more than a dozen drones to the people in the conference room. As of now, the procurement team of the North Sea Continent finally got a preliminary understanding of the weapons being produced by Blacklight Biotechnology.
Of course, the order contract would not be signed so soon. After all, this round was only a preliminary examination. After this group of people left, they would send a second and third batch of inspection teams to investigate. No political inst.i.tution would treat lightly a purchase order that involved tens of billions of dollars as well as national security.
Blacklight Biotechnology was not just receiving representatives from the North Sea Continent. They were just the fastest group. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, although the North Sea Continent had taken in the dividends left by the Soviet Union many years ago, now it had reached the end of its line, and most of its weapons were on the verge of obsolescence.
Now, there had appeared an arms dealer who would not even glance at the Northern American Continent. The North Sea Continent immediately became restless. They dispatched a number of high-ranking military officials to form an inspection group to come here to obtain a preliminary understanding.
When the meeting was about to end, an old man with a gray beard among the officers finally could not hold back anymore. He frowned and said, “I have to say that the weapons of Blacklight Biotechnology are indeed amazing, but before we have witnessed their performance with our own eyes, all this still has to remain a question mark. Shouldn’t it be time to talk about some of the highlights? For example, your ‘sky sweeper’?”
“Ah, so General Carl, you have your eye on our individual air defense system?”
The young man suddenly laughed. He took off his gla.s.ses, revealing a handsome Chinese face. This young man was transferred here from the headquarters and was an intelligent talent who was well appreciated and entrusted with important duties by Qian Wenhuan.
At this time, he only said, “Of course that’s doable, but not right now, because in the next few days, I’ll personally take you to visit our various weapon systems. After all, no matter how much I say now, it won’t be as effective as seeing it with your own eyes, right?”
The old man frowned upon hearing this. To be honest, he did not like that the pace of their dealings was in the other party’s hands.
Nonetheless, he understood that Blacklight Biotechnology was certainly planning on delaying things as far as possible until the inspection teams from other continents had arrived too. This would create a situation of multiple competing bids. Even so, the old man was powerless to stop this.
After all, Blacklight Biotechnology was the only one of its kind...