It's Entirely Legal To Own "Thermonator"
For those curious, owning a flamethrower is broadly legal across the United States, with Maryland being the exception, as the state has effectively banned these devices. In California, flamethrowers are legal but require a permit.
With the legality all sorted out. What's been making headlines this week is a Unitree Go2 quadruple robot equipped with a flamethrower.
"Thermonator is the first-ever flamethrower-wielding robot dog. This quadruped is coupled with the ARC Flamethrower to deliver on-demand fire anywhere!" Throwflame, the company behind the robot flamethrower, wrote on its website.
Called the "Thermonator," the flamethrowing robot retails for $9,420 and can shoot napalm upwards of 30 feet.
Throwflame says Thermonator is mainly used for "wildfire control and prevention," "agricultural management," "ecological conservation," "snow and ice removal," and "entertainment and SFX."
Over the years, we have covered the proliferation of this technology, from 'cute' dancing robo-dogs from (Japanese-owned) Boston Dynamics to the Chinese version of 'spot' with a machine gun strapped to its back.
Even an armed robo-dog deployed by a drone.
Blood-Wing, a Chinese defense contractor, demonstrates drone-deploying an armed robodog.
— Lia Wong (@LiaWong__) October 4, 2022
The Future is Now. pic.twitter.com/tRKnKa8xvp
Meanwhile, just days ago, Boston Dynamics unveiled its new humanoid robot that creepily moves like no other robot has moved before.
We promise this is not a person in a bodysuit. https://t.co/S9FgfpqvrW pic.twitter.com/G30sXHQ93C
— Boston Dynamics (@BostonDynamics) April 17, 2024
The militarization of robot dogs is terrifying. We're surprised these robots have yet to be deployed in Ukraine.