Russian first-person view (FPV) drones have made it more and more difficult for Ukrainian forces to resupply their positions. To avoid wasting lives, the Ukrainian navy has turned to ground-based robots for logistics and evacuation duties.

Many navy models have established logistics techniques primarily based on unmanned floor automobiles (UGVs). Undoubtedly, the top of navy robotisation lies in integrating floor drones into fight operations alongside infantry – probably the most demanding job up to now.

The navy goals to partially substitute machine gunners and grenade launcher crews with floor platforms that may occupy positions, detect enemy forces and have interaction targets on command. This dream of robotisation has taken on added urgency as a consequence of a power scarcity of infantry.

Ukrainska Pravda reported earlier that Ukrainian troops have to switch nearly all of UGVs used on the battlefield as a consequence of shortcomings in assembly operational calls for. Simply 5 out of 13 producers handed a live-fire check run by Ukraine's third Assault Brigade and the Snake Island Institute.

Nonetheless, some fashions are already in lively fight and delivering constant outcomes. Learn this Ukrainska Pravda report on how fight robots are getting used on the entrance strains right now and the challenges that stay for the navy and producers.

Scepticism in the direction of UGVs is fading

Like drones earlier than them, ground-based robotic techniques are shifting from preliminary distrust by commanders to mass roll-out.

Yurii Poritskyi, CEO of DevDroid, a Ukrainian firm that develops UGVs and fight modules, defined to Ukrainska Pravda how scepticism in the direction of UGVs has given technique to their crucial use on the entrance strains.

Poritskyi recalled that early on, some troopers joked about their fellow troops working UGVs, because the robots moved so slowly they have been handed by pickup vans many times.

"When Rubicon [Russia's most advanced drone unit] entered the fray, three or 4 burned-out pickups would already be within the space, but the operators stored occurring their UGVs," he mentioned. "Now everybody needs a UGV – nobody needs to hold ammunition in a pickup that may very well be the following goal for FPV drones."

Efficient mass use of UGVs requires a longtime system, which in flip is determined by specialised models.

The Ukrainian navy established its UGV employees in 2024, and by 2025, the nation had procured almost 15,000 techniques. This partially coated logistics necessities and gave the navy an opportunity to refine its ways.

Logistics is simply the beginning. The robots are actually planting landmines, evacuating the wounded and performing reconnaissance.

The important thing demand from frontline troops, nonetheless, is to switch the rifleman within the trenches. Making a robotic in a position to battle even roughly on a par with infantry is now probably the most advanced problem Ukrainian engineers are working to sort out.

The aim behind fight UGVs

Floor drones take the place of troopers in high-risk conditions. The advantages are clear: they are often deployed rapidly whereas holding lives out of hurt's manner.

For instance, utilizing an Mk19 grenade launcher means dismantling the weapon and hauling it, together with ammunition, to the firing place. This can be a sluggish and harmful job, because the group could also be detected and worn out alongside the way in which. A robotic eliminates that publicity, transporting every part without delay and arriving able to battle.

The Russians push ahead in numbers and infiltrate in small teams. Velocity is the decisive consider countering them. Infantry models are susceptible when they’re camouflaging their positions, however a drone can open hearth immediately. Even when the platform is hit, its operators stay unhurt, as they management it from a comparatively secure distance.

Via direct cooperation with the navy, builders are refining the platforms and equipping them to deal with new weapons.

Armament of floor robots

The commonest weapons utilized in UGVs are large-calibre machine weapons. Poritskyi emphasises that the crucial level is preserving the weapon's authentic design: the platform have to be designed so the machine gun works with none modifications.

Engineers use transition brackets to safe the machine gun with out affecting the platform's physique, enabling fast weapon modifications on the module. The one mechanical modification is the addition of an electrical set off. The turret is managed by electrical motors and actuators.

In superior configurations, specialised software program transforms an odd machine gun right into a high-precision weapon. Builders tailor ballistic calculations to every system, accounting for distance, ammunition kind, wind and the goal's angular velocity. Ammunition can also be tracked robotically: operators at all times know what number of rounds are left.

AI-powered modules spot enemies utilizing motion and warmth signatures. They’ll observe targets independently, however firing is managed by a human to keep away from pleasant hearth.

"We make use of synthetic intelligence in fight modules and machine imaginative and prescient to help patrolling and goal recognizing," mentioned Makar, Commander of the NC13 UGV Firm within the third Assault Brigade. "As soon as a sector or angle is about, the turret patrols robotically. When it detects a shifting object or warmth signature, it begins monitoring and alerts the operator: 'Look, somebody is coming.' These auxiliary options are already proving helpful to operators."

Communications and mechanics are the know-how's weakest hyperlinks.

Alerts might be unreliable, however synthetic intelligence helps offset this limitation, mentioned Matematyk, commander of the Mixed UGV Unit on the Khartiia unit, 2nd Corps of Ukraine's Nationwide Guard.

The mechanical aspect is not any much less problematic. A jammed spherical renders the drone helpless, because it can’t be cleared with no human close by to intervene. This locations a premium on meticulous weapon preparation earlier than fight, though engineers have begun putting in distant reloading techniques on some Ukrainian UGVs to scale back the chance.

Weapon choice is essentially pushed by ammunition availability. The commonest selection is the US-made Browning M2 chambered for .50 BMG ammunition, commonly equipped by Kyiv's companions and now extra prevalent than Soviet-era alternate options.

Though the heavy calibre requires a bolstered turret and stiff dampers to deal with recoil, it’s valued for its vary and armour penetration. Shortages of 12.7mm weapons, nonetheless, have pushed models to mount 7.62mm machine weapons – PKMs and M240s – or PKTs, which are sometimes salvaged from broken armoured automobiles.

Along with successfully destroying mild gear, as proven in a latest video of a Russian MT‑LB being hit by the fifth Brigade, giant‑calibre machine weapons even have a psychological influence:

"When the enemy hears a big‑calibre machine gun, they instantly assume heavy gear is close by," Poritskyi mentioned. "They realise that no odd soldier may carry a 50‑kg gun.

If enemy models are hiding in buildings, they get very uneasy: they’re conscious that they are going to finally be worn out and that they should flee. On intercepts, our fighters even heard the enemy report: 'Giant armoured automobiles are partaking us!' – when actually it was solely a camouflaged floor robotic systematically hitting targets."

Automated grenade launchers (AGLs) are one other weapon choice for floor robots. Their benefit over machine weapons is the power to have interaction targets from coated positions, firing overhead and past their direct line of sight.

Integrating grenade launchers is extra advanced than mounting machine weapons due to their weight and recoil. The US-made Mk 19 weighs 35.2 kg, in contrast with 18 kg for the Soviet AGS-17. Such heavy weapons require platforms geared up with highly effective electrical motors and actuators.

The recoil from grenade launchers can destabilise mild platforms. Firing on the transfer requires stabilisation techniques to compensate for vibration. Makar says no AGL modules at present available on the market are able to doing so.

The software program utilized in Ukrainian grenade launcher turrets, such because the Wolly 40 module, reacts quicker than a human operator and robotically calculates the barrel's angle of elevation wanted to hit a goal.

"The turret might be positioned in a forested space or in open terrain, whereas the soldier stays below cowl and controls it remotely," Makar mentioned. "For grenade launchers, the system enables you to memorise between 10 and 15 targets. You’ll be able to set the boundaries of a forested space, and if there may be infantry shifting there, the turret will independently interact targets throughout that zone in a zigzag sample.

This actually simplifies focusing on. As soon as the turret is in place, you enter the coordinates, and it locks onto the goal in a break up second and fires precisely."

Operators of UGVs can not see the goal straight, so the platform and turret depend on a fancy system of 4 to 5 sensors: compasses, gyroscopes and GPS antennas. If GPS is jammed, the system detects this and switches to different strategies to find out its place.

The ammunition feed is probably the most mechanically advanced unit on floor robots armed with grenade launchers, and there are at present no broadly obtainable applied sciences for the automated substitute of grenade bins.

Vibration is one other widespread downside for fight floor drones. Motion and firing can loosen bolts and harm electronics, so after each mission, crews have to examine the gear and safe all connections. Assemblers should maintain this in thoughts when constructing the drones.

Ways and doctrine for fight UGVs

The effectiveness of floor platforms is constrained not solely by technical limitations but additionally by the dearth of confirmed ways. Ukrainian troops say infantry fight planning procedures are utilized to fight robots, however coordinating an assault that features them is harder than commanding solely human forces.

Matematyk factors to a command-and-control situation: headquarters sends fight UGVs into motion with out at all times factoring of their technical limits. To keep away from errors, commanders want UGV specialists to regulate duties to what the machines can truly do. That makes planning tougher and raises the bar for officer expertise. Till crews achieve expertise, coordinating robots in fast-moving assaults will probably be difficult.

"To this point, the systematisation of fight expertise has primarily come from the underside up, at brigade and corps degree," Matematyk mentioned. "However increased command is supportive: they present curiosity, allocate sources and, most significantly, hearken to these working within the subject to construct a unified mannequin of use.

The issue is that totally different models have very totally different experiences and views, so it's exhausting to carry every part below one commonplace rapidly. You’ll be able to't do every part without delay. However I believe that over the following 12 months this can scale up, and we'll attain a transparent understanding of the requirements – who makes use of floor drones, the place and the way."

Matematyk mentioned fight floor robots are already working at distances of 1 to 2 kilometres from enemy positions, which is why securing the low-altitude airspace is of utmost significance. He famous the principle menace to such platforms comes from Russian FPV drones, notably fibre‑optic ones.

Fight robots present their biggest worth in defensive operations. They help or substitute infantry, serving to maintain positions with fewer personnel and lowering danger to troopers. Traces of UGVs organized in layers kind a dense, hard-to-breach hearth system.

Giant platforms are usually positioned on the second or third line from the zone of quick fight to scale back the menace posed by FPV drones. There, they act as distant commentary and firing factors: they’ll watch for days, robotically detect the enemy and observe targets. This allows one operator to manage three to 4 sectors without delay from a secure shelter. When stationary, the UGV have to be dug in, or it is going to be destroyed rapidly.

"We transformed a former infantry place and put a UGV armed with a Browning machine gun there," Makar mentioned. "Principally, it will go on fight responsibility almost daily to control the enemy and ship hearth strikes every time the battalion command requested."

Nevertheless, the ways for robotic assaults are nonetheless taking form, as offensive operations are much more advanced than defence. For now, their handiest position is in reconnaissance-in-force operations, the place robots advance with out personnel to attract enemy hearth. Throughout assaults, they function a fireplace protect or escort factor, pinning the enemy down.

"We deliberate an operation round floor robots offering the principle hearth help for the assault group," Makar mentioned. "It was a complete setup: two kamikaze robots carrying MON‑90 mines, a fight module armed with an Mk 19 grenade launcher, and an evacuation platform.

The primary kamikaze robotic blew up the enemy place earlier than the assault began. The second moved parallel to the infantry throughout the sector and, on command, attacked the enemy on the coordinates offered through the battle. The grenade launcher module offered cowl in open terrain as our guys have been shifting in – the robotic fired its full ammunition load precisely on the goal.

Sadly, we misplaced one soldier to artillery hearth. As quickly as the realm was secured, the logistics robotic moved in and evacuated the physique."

The expertise of the third Assault Brigade proves that robots are able to successfully supporting assaults, destroying fortifications and manpower earlier than shut fight. In one other case, a kamikaze UGV compelled Russian fighters to give up by threatening to explode their place.

The circumstances cited by Constitution and the third Assault Brigade symbolize the chopping fringe of UGV use. They’ve coaching techniques in place, a transparent employees construction, full freedom from commanders to develop functionality and the required personnel and gear. Different models in Ukraine's defence forces have additionally seen success with fight UGVs, however most are nonetheless simply getting began.

Can floor robots partially substitute infantry combating automobiles?

UGV producers are at present introducing extra highly effective fight platforms designed to fill a wider area of interest on the battlefield. These robots carry extra ammunition and heavier modules.

Heavy-duty UGVs embrace the Protector and T-700 Browning, each able to carrying 700 kg, and the Vatag, which carries as much as 2 tonnes.

The T-700 Browning is armed with two machine weapons: a 12.7mm Browning M2 and a 7.62mm PKT.

The Vatag was developed for the 25mm Bushmaster cannon, just like the one on the US-made Bradley infantry combating car. Its developer says the chassis may even carry an entire load of 40 rockets for Grad multiple-launch rocket techniques.

Ukrainian builders are getting ready repeaters and platforms to hold and deploy small kamikaze drones, in addition to new weapon carriers for 2026: anti-tank missile techniques, man-portable air defence techniques, autocannons and flamethrower rocket launchers. The event of synthetic intelligence to extend drone autonomy can also be anticipated.

"We don't have sufficient individuals," Poritskyi mentioned. "The Russians throw their males into the meat grinder, we ship robots to the scrap heap. We storm with them, lose them, however swap cash and steel for enemy manpower."

Translation: Artem Yakymyshyn

Enhancing: Susan McDonald