Real-Life Battlebots

• Email
• Share
• Print

Turning now to news on things that go "boom," CNET reported yesterday that the U.S. Army will begin deploying armed "Talon" robots on the battlefield as early as next year. The warrior robots, which have been undergoing field tests for more than a year now, can be equipped with either of two varieties of machine guns, or with a rocket launcher, and are designed to be operated by remote control.

Sadly for investors, the Talon is manufactured by a private company, Foster-Miller. But there's always hope that this battlebot will turn out to be a success and that one of the larger, and public, defense contractors will buy out its maker. General Dynamics (NYSE: GD) would be a logical choice for this, considering its interest in the field of remote-controlled weapons systems and other cutting-edge technology. It did, after all, buy GM's (NYSE: GM) Stryker division just in time to field the wheeled-armored vehicles in Iraq.

But for the time being, if you want to own a company that makes robots that can carry an arsenal of assorted weapons, you're going to have to be satisfied with Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) and its Star Wars battle droids.

Much like the body armor manufactured by Hidden Gems Watch List stock DHB Industries (AMEX: DHB), the purpose of building all these "buckets of bolts" is to save the lives of American soldiers, who will remotely control the machines from a safe distance. Incidentally, the remote control angle also plays to a strength almost unique to the American soldier -- the likelihood that he or she has been raised on a steady diet of first-person shooter video games, courtesy of Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation and Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Xbox.

Sure, other countries -- Japan, for instance -- excel at manufacturing little pacifist Honda (NYSE: HMC) ASIMO robots that walk around independently and hurt nary a fly. But here in the U.S. of A., we like our robots armed to the teeth and joystick-compatible, thank you very much.

For more Foolish coverage of things that go "boom," read:

• Boeing Wields a New Laser
• Europe's Best Defense: France
• Defense Stock, Offensive Valuation

Fool contributor Rich Smith owns no shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article.