Monster Machines: Crooks Don’t Stand A Chance Against The SWAT Bot


With so much crazy going around these days, its a hairy time to be in law enforcement. But with this door-breaching, bullet-stopping, car-towing robo-tank in front of them, SWAT units will be unstoppable.

Built by Howe and Howe Technologies — the team behind Discovery Channel’s “Howe and Howe Tech: Black Ops Brothers,” the Ripsaw tank from GI Joe 2, a host of robotic defence systems — the RS1-RBS1 SWAT Robot was designed in coordination with the Massachusetts State Police.

It’s based on the company’s RS1 platform, a remote controlled all-terrain treaded vehicle, customised to the needs of law enforcement. As such, it incorporates a collapsible ballistics shield far larger than the hand-held ballistic shields SWAT teams typically rely on for protection during raids. When extended, the SWAT bot stands 203cm high, 183cm long, 246cm wide, and weighs over 1000kg. Its 25HP diesel engine allows it to push up to 576kg of debris on asphalt, 470kg on concrete, and, with the Dragon Tail car piercing/extraction tool, the RBS1 can embed a tow chain into a vehicle and pull it out of the way with an integrated 2268kg winch. And the hardened steel nose point is pretty much the last thing you’d want to see breaking through your barricaded front door.

The RBS1 starts at $US30,000 plus another $US65,000 for the RS1 Base. There’s no word yet on when the Howe brothers will get around to building a proper Tachikoma though.

[Howe and Howe via Physorg]