Ukraine has set a goal of producing at least 50,000 combat robots by the end of the year, equipped with various types of weapons - from small arms to grenade launchers, to strengthen combat units on the front, Bloomberg reports.
"We can no longer imagine defense without drones, the same applies to unmanned ground vehicles," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in April. "Frontline logistics, evacuation of the wounded, combat missions - the use of unmanned ground vehicles is increasing at the fastest pace," he noted.
The Wolly 7.62 combat robot
Bloomberg gives as an example one of the operations of the Ukrainian armed forces since July. Then, a Wolly 7.62 combat robot was launched from a naval drone in the Mykolaiv region, which fired a machine gun at Russian troop positions, forcing them to retreat, and then self-destructed.
This robot costs 6,950 euros and is already used for territorial defense in a number of brigades of the Ukrainian army.
Delivery of mines and attacks on the principle of "kamikaze"
Ukrainian officials note that unmanned systems help fill the shortage of personnel in the army, freeing soldiers from dangerous logistical transport to support troops on the front line and evacuate the wounded.
Infantry units also use unmanned aircraft to perform combat missions, said the commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine, Robert Brody. Some of them are used to deliver mines or carry out "kamikaze" attacks, he said.
"The area of about 25 km around the front is a "death zone", with extremely high casualties due to the density of drones. And replacing people with drones significantly reduces losses," he added.
Ukrainian drone system is "absolutely incredible"
The new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Mykhailo Drapati, is also a supporter of using Ukrainian developments in the field of drones and robotics to gain advantages on the battlefield, writes Bloomberg.
In May, US Defense Secretary Dan Driscoll praised the operating system of the Ukrainian drone network, calling it "absolutely incredible". "It integrates every drone, every sensor and every firing platform into a single network," Driscoll told the Senate.
Author: Ekaterina Venkina