Since the start of the large -scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, the military forces of the two countries, in addition to wading a merciless war on the front, have been engaged in a fierce technological fight. In the hope of switching the course of war in their favor, Russians and Ukrainians redouble their efforts to ensure technical superiority, in particular by developing ever more modern drones and jammers to defend themselves.
The American online media Business Insider reports that the Ukrainian army has developed a new type of terrestrial robot, in line with what it has already managed to design with its air or sea drones. Using the fiber optic wiring system of certain drones in subjective view (FPV), these small devices are capable of bypassing Russian electronic jamming systems, essential to maintaining their defense line.
Coming directly from Brave1, an initiative of the Ukrainian government aimed at promoting the emergence of new technologies within the framework of the war against Russia, these terrestrial drones have very promising results, despite some stammerings noted during the test phases.
An upcoming technological revolution?
Unmanned land vehicles (or UGV in English, for Unmanned Ground Vehicle) gradually impose themselves as precious auxiliaries on the battlefield. Capable of carrying out logistics missions such as the delivery of first line ammunition or the evacuation of wounded, they can also be mobilized for combat operations. Some are used to attack enemy positions, put mines or even explode near Russian armored vehicles.
The Ukrainian staff has little doubt about the potential of these recently developed UGVs. Mykhaïlo Fedorov, Ukrainian Minister responsible for digital transformation, had not hesitated to entrust to journalists from Business Insider that he saw in terrestrial robots “The next technology that will change the situation in this war, as was (air) drones at some point”.
In the near future, these robots will undoubtedly be able to replace soldiers on the front line, or to carry out decisive actions on the front. The massive deployment of these devices could reverse the balance of power, the Ukrainian army largely suffering from its numerical inferiority in terms of workforce compared to Russia.
If some terrestrial robots have already been used on the front since the launch of the Russian attack, their presence remains marginal and has in no way allowed one of the parties to take a major advantage. All this could therefore change in the coming months, since Ukraine hopes to have several thousand of these UGVs in 2025.
