Producer of the US Army’s Modular Handgun System and Next Generation Weapons SIG SAUER displayed their new robotic systems at the AUSA Annual Meeting this week.
The system consists of three main components: Mule robot, Pitbull Remote Weapon Station, and NG3 Mingun Gatling Gun.
Chambered in 338 Norma Mag, the NG3 Minigun Gatling Gun is from Stone Horse, LLC, a Richmond-based manufacturer. It features four rotating barrels and offers a 2000 rounds-per-minute rate of fire. However, this can be tuned to avoid certain frequencies for aviation applications. The MG3 weighs in at 50 lbs with electrical box.
The Mule and Pitbull are products of General Robotics which was purchased last year by SIG SAUER. We’ve seen Pitbull in the past, which debuted with SIG during the defense products demonstration at this year’s SHOT Show range.
Pitbull weights 85 kg dry and can be configured with a wide variety of weapons and mounted to vehicles, robots and even in static applications as well as on a tripod.
This is the first time we have seen Mule. Equipped with band tracks, it weights 100 lbs with batteries and can be remotely operated or programmed to transit a predetermined route. Additional equipment is available to provide the Mule autonomous capability to assess and negotiate terrain.
SIG’s booth had a couple of other Easter eggs like this pistol equipped quadcopter also from their General Robotics division.
Editor’s Note: I called the Next Generation 3 a “Minigun” because that’s technically what it is, but the M134 is commonly known as a Minigun and this isn’t an M134.
Eric
