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Russia's combat robot fails to impress Putin

Vladimir Putin looked less than thrilled when watching a slow-moving military robot riding a four-wheeler. Hey, not all cyborg bikers look like the Terminator.

Bonnie Burton
Journalist Bonnie Burton writes about movies, TV shows, comics, science and robots. She is the author of the books Live or Die: Survival Hacks, Wizarding World: Movie Magic Amazing Artifacts, The Star Wars Craft Book, Girls Against Girls, Draw Star Wars, Planets in Peril and more! E-mail Bonnie.
Bonnie Burton

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This Russian robot looks like more Daft Punk than combat ready. Video screenshot by Bonnie Burton/CNET

Russia's president Vladimir Putin -- nicknamed Superputin -- pilots jets, drives race cars, rides horses, tranquilizes polar bears, fishes shirtless in freezing Siberian rivers and is a martial arts master in Judo.

So when you present him with the ultimate military robot, it better be impressive. Sadly, when a research institute outside of Moscow showed off its latest cyborg combat technology in action, Putin seemed almost bored.

In this video footage from Russia Today, Putin watches with seeming disappointment as the combat robot that looks like a member of Daft Punk inches its way on an ATV bike around a snowy racetrack during a demo.

There's even a burning vehicle in the background to give it that extra danger-zone ambiance.

However, when the helmet looks like a giant smile and the robot is just sitting there in an almost calm Knievel kind of way, it's hard not to blame Putin for his lack of enthusiasm.

This can't be good news for Russia, which has reportedly been determined to build a variety of combat robots, including small, unmanned tanks equipped with machine guns.