Robot Soldiers With Guns Coming Soon

"Transformers," the summer blockbuster movie about war on Earth between two robot forces, foreshadows a world that may be closer to reality than you think. As part of the Army's $160 billion Future Combat Systems, to be deployed within the next decade, robot soldiers will be programmed to invade hostile terrain and shoot to kill. If all goes according to plan, there could be virtually no humans on the battlefield -- at least on our side -- by the end of this century. And while "Transformers" remains science fiction today, "RoboCop" is already real: Over the summer, iRobot Corp. and Taser International announced that the iRobot's bomb-disposal PackBot can be equipped with a Taser X26 stun gun, which lets it double as a law-enforcement officer and "engage, incapacitate and control dangerous suspects." These cyborgs are only part of the coming robotic revolution.