I Want One Of These Too!

The Israeli's have raised the stakes on terrorist acts. Now there is a silent stalker, an inhuman force that will kill remorselessly, that has no heart, experiences no regrets... and runs on batteries.

Meet the VIPeR.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli defense firm on Thursday unveiled a portable robot billed as being capable of entering most combat zones alone and engaging enemies with an onboard armory that includes a machine-pistol and grenades.

The VIPeR, roughly the size of a small television, was invented as part of Israel's efforts to develop weaponry that could reduce the risks to its forces from hand-to-hand fighting against Palestinian or Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.

It's the size of a small TV and it comes with its own limited remote control, it can only "turn off" terrorists.

The manufacturer, Elbit Systems Ltd., said that the VIPeR's small size and dual treads enable it to move "undeterred by stairs, rubble, dark alleys, caves or narrow tunnels".

As well as bomb-sniffing and bomb disposal equipment, the VIPeR can carry an Uzi machine-pistol or plant a grenade. The weapons would be aimed using an onboard video camera.

Now there is something else for terrorists to worry about. Let them lose sleep.

Can you imagine about a hundred of these things coming towards a terrorist hidey-hole? There just has to be a remote camera capability in order to record the good natured hijinks.

Maybe we'll see some footage on America's Deadliest Home Videos.

I assume the two antennas on the back of the unit are for motion and armament control.

According to Elbit, which has close links with the Defense Ministry, Israel plans to deploy the VIPeR among its infantry units after field tests. The robot could also be of interest to foreign police units or U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Oh, I'll bet someone is interested. There's gotta be some cool nicknames for this thing.