Ukraine expands use of ground robots as drones make front lines deadlier

In short: Ukraine is using more ground robots to reduce the danger to human soldiers in areas watched and attacked by drones.

What's going on

Ukraine says it has sharply increased missions by uncrewed ground vehicles, which are small robots that drive on the ground like remote-controlled cars. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that ground robots and drones once helped take a Russian position and forced Russian soldiers to surrender, though this has not been independently verified.

Ukraine’s defense ministry has described a threefold rise in ground robot missions over the last five months. It reported more than 9,000 missions in March alone, according to Scripps News, and Zelenskyy said robots completed over 22,000 missions in the last three months.

The push comes as flying drones have made the front lines extremely dangerous for people. Both sides use FPV drones (first-person view, meaning the operator sees through the drone’s camera like a live video game) as explosive weapons. Constant drone surveillance has also created “kill zones” on both sides of the front, making movement risky even for basic tasks like bringing supplies or carrying wounded soldiers.

Ground robots are being used for supply runs and medical evacuations, and sometimes for combat with weapons or as explosive devices. But they still fail often. A Ukrainian marine officer said evacuation robots could not reach wounded troops in four out of five attempts, due to drones, rough terrain, and signal disruption.

What to watch

Ukraine’s commanders have suggested that adding more robots could reduce the number of infantry needed by up to 30 percent by the end of this year. The key question is whether robots can work reliably under heavy drone attacks and electronic interference, and how quickly Russia can match or counter these systems.

Source: Arstechnica