Spider drone

s are small robots which are employed by the Chinese Army.

These little robots are a sort-of mobile landmine for the Chinese army. Their primary method of attack is to approach enemy targets and explode. They are only encountered briefly during the Paving the Way quest and thus there is very little information to be gathered on them.

According to a Chinese terminal entry, the model encountered in the Anchorage Reclamation simulation is designated "Spider Drone MKVI Prototype", and they are air dropped via bomber.

A Chinese terminal entry advises their own soldiers to be careful around the drones even though they are configured to only attack Americans. Additionally, you will occasionally see a Chinese Soldier fighting one of these on the way to the Chimera Depot, suggesting that the prototypes might still suffer from problems with friend-or-foe recognition or might even lack it entirely.

Despite little information available on the robots itself, their very little size and ability to move towards their target could mean that Chinese were more advanced in microcomputer technology than Americans, however the simulation is realistically inaccurate, and there may have never been such things as "Spider Drones".

Appearances
s appear only in Fallout 3's add-on Operation: Anchorage.

Trivia
s may be a reference to StarCraft, in which the Terran race may place a tiny drone called a "Spider Mine" which will run to and explode when an enemy comes near. They may also reference the Claws in Philip K. Dick's short story "Second Variety", filmed as "Screamers" and often credited as the inspiration for "The Terminator".

It may also be influenced by the recurring enemy "The Replicators" in the Stargate SG-1 TV series.