Remotec Andros F5: On Thursday night, the Dallas Police Department (DPD) used a bomb disposal robot with C4 to kill the 25-year-old Micah Johnson. In a police statement released on Saturday, the DPD mentioned the name of the bot that was used in this unprecedented operation. It was the Remotec Andros F5 model.
Despite the fact that it is not sold it is now from Remotec, the Remotec Andros F5 appears to be a previous bomb disposal model. According to a product brochure from 2012, the new F6B can carry up to 60 kilograms with its arm fully extended.
Thus the half kilogram of C4 that he carried for the death of extremist Micah Johnson was not even close to the maximum payload it could carry.
Remotec calls the F6 “the largest and most reliable system for first-response drones.” Various online references suggested that the robot that could be used on Thursday was a Marcbot, a much simpler machine that had been used extensively by the armed forces in Iraq.
However, a few days after the dramatic events in Dallas, the discussion has shifted to whether the police's latest action using a robot to neutralize the suspect will be the future. In its statement, the DPD says that the robot was used as «last resort» to save the lives of police officers and civilians. Other police agencies, such as the NYPD, praised the DPD for the unprecedented use of a bomb‑disposal robot, according to The New York Daily News.
Legal experts, however, are raising concerns about the use of lethal drones by police, comparing the robot's use to drones used in warfare.
The debate is likely to continue in the coming days, weeks and months, and the Remotec Andros F5 will be the focus.
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