Clanker

A ROBOT DOG AND A DRONE ARE SHOOTING FIREWORKS AT EACH OTHER IN AN OPEN FIELD. THIS IS NOT A MOVIE. dirt field. empty lot. a four-legged robot dog with firework rockets strapped to its back fires them into the air. a drone hovers above it firing back. sparks fly everywhere. smoke fills the frame. the robot dog doesn't flinch. doesn't run. just stands there launching rockets while getting hit by return fire from above. the drone circles, shoots, reloads. the dog pivots, aims up, fires again. someone strapped $50 worth of fireworks to a $2,500 robot dog and a $1,500 drone and started a war in a parking lot. this is what happens when military-grade hardware gets cheap enough for people with YouTube channels. a robot dog costs less than a used Honda Civic. a combat drone costs less than a MacBook. fireworks cost less than dinner. the US military spends $14 billion a year on drone programs. these two machines are doing the same thing for the price of a weekend at Best Buy. the scary part isn't the fireworks. it's how easy this was to build. no lab. no funding. no government contract. just two machines, some rockets, and someone who thought it would make a good video. it did. but the next person who builds this might not be filming for content. who's sleeping well tonight?