Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo
Fri, December 15, 2023 a
MILAN — As armed aerial drones and artillery threaten troop movements on the front lines in Ukraine, experts are beginning to see crude ground robots whizz over the battlefield to resupply soldiers.
The systems observed so far in shaky footage distributed on social media appear to be designed for logistics, obviating the need for soldiers to venture from their foxholes. A Kremlin-affiliated Telegram channel recently published a clip purporting to show a Russian unmanned ground vehicle, or UGV, delivering supplies to front-line troops while avoiding strikes by Ukrainian mini-drones and transporting a wounded soldier, though the evacuation is never clearly shown.
“Because of so many drones operating in the air, both surveillance and first-person-view ones, moving around has become very difficult for both sides,” Sam Bendett, research analyst at the U.S.-based Center for Naval Analyses think tank, told Defense News. “So regular tasks like logistics, supply and evacuation are in danger of getting discovered and attacked by drones.”
In response, Ukrainian and Russian forces are fielding “simple, DIY platforms” for such tasks, Bendett added.
Federico Borsari, a fellow at the Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis think tank, said it appears Russia’s 87th Rifle Regiment recorded the video. That regiment currently operates in the industrial area south of Avdiivka, Ukraine.
“This UGV appears as a simple, almost artisanal system rather than an industrially produced one. The Telegram channel also shows pictures of suspensions, rubber tracks and engine components bought off the shelf and delivered directly to units in Ukraine,” he added.
Both experts agree that based on the looks of the platform, it may have been assembled by soldiers or volunteers on the front lines. Bendett noted that other similar DIY projects, both tracked and wheeled, are currently undergoing tests by Russian troops as logistics platforms.
While it’s unclear whether the makeshift robots could transport a wounded soldier, the analysts said that the one seen in the video could in theory do the job.
“The vehicle’s basic design seems to be approximately 1.5 meters in length and 1.20 meters in width, with two extensible plates on the front and rear of the middle section to carry a single soldier,” Borsari said.
Russia’s recent experiments with ground robots could signal a trend, he added. “The vast array of UGV prototypes that Russian companies are working on is a clear signal that Moscow considers this segment as an important one for its future military capabilities.”
Drones have taken over the war in Ukraine, sometimes fighting each other and running supplies like soldiers
Chris Panella
Sat, December 16, 2023
Both Russia and Ukraine are employing drones in new and destructive ways.
One video captures a Ukrainian drone attacking a Russian ground drone carrying ammo to a unit.
Another video shows Ukraine testing a small ground vehicle to assist in mine-clearing operations.
The drone war in Ukraine is heating up as both sides find innovative ways to use them to protect their troops and target their enemy's across the largely deadlocked battle lines.
It's a sign of just how effective drones have been for Ukraine and Russia and speaks to continued investment in making them more useful and fearsome on the battlefield.
This week, video shared by the Ukrainian Ground Forces showed a rather peculiar interaction between an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) near Avdiivka.
Під Авдіївкою український FPV- дрон знищив наземний безпілотник Російської Федерації, який доставляв боєприпаси.
Про це повідомляють Сухопутних військ Збройних сил України.https://t.co/mp611QDjHQ pic.twitter.com/Sv8M7JLki6
— Громадське радіо (@HromadskeRadio) December 9, 2023
In the footage, a Russian UGV is seen driving on a snowy road. Ukraine said the drone was delivering ammunition to a nearby Russian unit, a tactic that spares troops in a vehicle from going on a dangerous resupply mission. Russian forces have been fighting in Avdiivka for months now, and are attempting a renewed offensive against Ukrainian defenses there.
But before the UGV can get ammo to Russian troops, a Ukrainian exploding drone flies out of nowhere, soaring down and slamming directly into it. The UGV promptly explodes.
Although there have been many other instances of drone-on-drone combat, this one highlights just how reliant Russian and Ukraine have become on unmanned vehicles, in this case using them as both a logistical tool and a piloted weapon.
Another recent video speaks to that development as well. On Friday, footage of a Ukrainian UGV participating in de-mining operations was shared online.
Interesting video of a Ukrainian small UGV platform for demining ops - it stretches out the UZP-77 hose-like, mine-clearing line charge assembly that explodes and detonates mines along its path. Obviously, this was not a live fire test - Ukrainians wanted to see if UZP can be… pic.twitter.com/0WIWuk2GJs
— Samuel Bendett (@sambendett) December 15, 2023
In the video, the drone drives forward in a field, pulling along a mine-clearing line charge that resembles a hose. The Russian-made device detonates the mines nearby and along its path, saving individual sappers from the dangerous and difficult job of clearing an initial mine-free path.
The footage shows that a UGV could potentially be used to pull these line charges and maneuver them into place, giving the drone another potential job for Ukraine.
Both cases — the drone combat in Avdiivka and the mine-clearance operation — are not necessarily all that new but instead indicate continued innovation and sophistication in the use of unmanned vehicles.
They also link with recent advanced and violent use of drones on the battlefield, where nothing and no one is safe from these weapons. Graphic videos shared online have documented some attacks over the past few months were drones flew inside open hatches of tanks or followed Russian soldiers back to bunkers.
As one Ukrainian soldier said in a recent video, "This is the future of warfare: shooting drones at each other rather than bullets or shells."
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