We’re getting closer to what will be the first giant robot duel in human (errr… robot) history. Two years in the making, we believe that the fight between the robots Megabots and Suidobashi Heavy Industries will finally take place at an undisclosed location. It is supposed to happen this month, but it has been pushed back a bit, with the fight seen to be happening in September.

In preparation for this fight, the Megabots created a more able fighting robot in the form of the MK3 “Eagle Prime”, giving it a more patriotic name to it as it will carry the hopes of American robot fans. In  a video released early this week, they test the Eagle Prime which now weighs 12 tons, is 16 feet tall, seats two (pilot and gunner), is powered by a 430 horsepower V8 LS3 engine, and costs them a cool $2.5M.

The right arm of the Eagle Prime is armed with a claw for better grappling whilst the left arm has a double barrel paintball cannon.  It moves faster and go around or through obstacles faster and the cockpit show better controls though I have to say, I’m not really impressed with it going through the stacked oil drums perhaps to protect its newly painted exterior.

Watch the video here to see for yourself:

Now, we do not have any updates on the Kuratas robot that Suidobashi Heavy Industries is making. The last time we saw the Kuratas, it looked like it can go around beat the Megabots MKI as it is faster and taller. But with the MK3 Eagle Prime, we do not know yet how the Japanese might want their build a new version of the Kuratas to counter it. Perhaps they have been going over the new video to see its weak spots and exploit these. The original Kuratas was armed with an airsoft minigun, but that won’t be effective against a hulking 16-foot steel robot so they better arm it with something better for a melee fight.

The Japanese are leaders in robotics, and their popular culture is steeped in Mecha or giant fighting robots, so their national pride is at stake also in this fight. They better make sure they have anew Kuratas that can give the MK3 Eagle Prime a run for its money.

The venue remains undisclosed and there are no ringside tickets to it. This is due to concerns that the public might not be protected if they see the fight up close as there might be flying metal debris all over. We do not know how the pilots of the robots will be protected too. But don’t worry, there are plans to livestream the fight on YouTube and on Facebook.

We are looking forward to day when the announcer says, “Let’s get ready to ruuummmmbbbbllleeee!!!” and make robot history.

All photos from Megabots.