Just like with computers, they start off exorbitantly expensive, then get smaller and cheaper and soon everyone’s got one. Dude:

How low? Try $30,000 to $50,000. A similar bot, the Talon, which was developed by defense contractor Foster-Miller and is being tested in Iraq, costs six times that amount. “Our system does all the same things as the Talon, weighs half as much, and costs a fraction,” says Gettings.

Dude:

And the AA-12 is versatile. Along with firing ridiculously powerful FRAG-12 ammo – a straight-out-of-Terminator shell that contains a whirling miniature grenade – the AA-12 can handle non-lethal Tasers and even bullets that are deadly up to 120 feet but fall harmlessly by 800 feet.

Here’s the demo. Like Noah Shachtman says, is the military ever going to reach a comfort level with these things where they’re willing to send them out among civilians? Click the image to watch.