Warfare tends to accelerate technological advance, and the war in Ukraine is proving no exception in that respect. In January, I noted a report of one Ukrainian robot armed with a heavy machine gun holding off repeated Russian attacks for 45 days. It had done so alone, with no Ukrainian soldiers on site, an example of how, in response to the peril posed by Russian drones and its own lack of numbers, Ukraine is pioneering the development and deployment of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs).
As I wrote in January:
UGVs are used as mobile weapons (increasingly replacing infantry in high-risk missions, especially those that last for some time), as surveillance tools, and for numerous other functions including mine-clearing, logistical support, and evacuating the wounded (UGVs designed for this purpose “have a steel armored capsule into which the wounded soldier crawls, protecting them from aerial drone attacks.”)
According to a new report in The Daily Telegraph, Ukraine is now on track to produce 25,000 UGVs in the first half of this year. Their range is increasing and so are the uses to which they are put:
The vehicle that killed the three Russian soldiers was an Ardal UGV, a small and quiet machine, no taller than waist-high that went unnoticed by the enemy. Despite its size, its tank tracks mean it can scale slopes of up to 30°, clear obstacles 35cm high and cross ditches up to 80cm wide.It is designed for logistics and remote mining but can also be fitted with a robotic turret armed with an Mk 19 grenade launcher for combat operations.
Initial battlefield improvisation has been replaced by something considerably more systematic, so much so that Ukraine’s military has established K-2, a full military brigade dedicated entirely to robots, a first, probably.
Humans are present, but remotely:
A single mission by these UGVs can take up to 10 hours and cover 30 miles, guided by a 10-person team, including two drivers, two drone pilots watching for mines and enemy drones, and a ground crew who launch the vehicle at the start of each run.
UGVs, like drones, are changing military tactics. Robert Tollast, a researcher in the land warfare team at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), tells the Telegraph that sending, say, 20 UGVs (particularly if backed by drones) against 10 Russian soldiers in a small village would be “overwhelming.”
The Russians, naturally enough, are not ignoring this development. Tollast believes that a “robot-against-robot engagement” is only a matter of time.
Doubtless that is true.
And doubtless other countries are watching this development with interest.