Ukraine’s Robot Wars – Ground Drones Emerge From Shadows

The success of aerial and seaborne drones in the war in Ukraine has captured the headlines but their ground-based cousins are also poised to exert their influence on the battlefield.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation, reported at the end of November how around 100 Ukrainian-manufactured unmanned ground systems (UGS) drones had been exhaustively tested for use in combat at the Brave1 testing ground. The drones were designed to fulfill a wide range of combat and support functions including medical evacuation, logistics resupply, remote assault missions, minelaying, and kamikaze attack vehicles.

The majority of these were first-person view (FPV) guided vehicles that relied on good communications to fulfill their missions. As with their air and seaborne counterparts, the emergence of Russian battlefield electronic warfare (EW) has proven to become an obstacle to their utility. However, advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are swinging the pendulum back toward improving their effectiveness.

The two most recent examples to capture the military issues commentator’s eye come from Estonia and Germany, with their manufacturers promising to step up their deliveries to Ukraine.

German AI-powered UGS for Ukraine

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Examples of some of the ARX Robotics AI-augmented UGS / Photo: ARX Robotics

ARX Robotics has announced that it has begun series production of its AI-augmented autonomous Gereon UGS drone. ARX said it intends to deliver the first 30 units, funded by the German government, to Ukraine’s armed forces this month. It is also in the process of opening a project support office in Ukraine according to the CEO of ARX Ukraine Ihor Korniolov.

The latest version of the Gereon is designed to navigate autonomously as it transports ammunition and other supplies to the front line and evacuates wounded soldiers from combat zones reducing the risks for Ukrainian personnel. It is said to be able to transport payloads of up to 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) over difficult terrain.

Several units were sent to Ukraine last summer after which the ARX CEO, Roberta Randerath said, “We don’t want to just supply our German solutions. In the context of a war that, unfortunately, has been ongoing for three years, Ukrainians have gained significant know-how in modern combat tactics. We hope to transfer this knowledge, which will allow us to improve our systems and save lives.”

In response to the experience gained in Ukraine a major adjustment was made to the equipment in response to the EW threat was to modify the Gereon software to remove its “return home function” if communication was as this could compromise the operator’s position.

Now, the UGS is programmed to return to a neutral location where it can be safely recovered. The drone is also now fitted with a self-destruct mechanism to prevent its AI technology from falling into enemy hands.

The UGS has been on trial with German special forces equipped with sensors that allow it to be used as a reconnaissance asset and as a communications relay platform operating behind enemy lines as well as in its primary logistics and evacuation support roles on exercises in Slovakia and Lithuania.

Estonia expands UGS production for Ukraine

Examples of some platforms fitted to the Milrem Robotics THeMIS UGS/ Photo: Milrem Robotics

The Ukrainian armed forces have been using at least 15 THeMIS UGS platforms produced by Estonia‘s Milrem Robotics, supplied since shortly after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, primarily to deliver logistics to the front line, and conduct casualty evacuation, demining and reconnaissance.

The company’s director of industrial partnerships, Paul Clayton, said Milrem had expanded its production facilities and would be able to produce more than 500 of its UGS platforms per year – a five-fold increase over its earlier production rates. Of these 500, he said Milrem intends “to have over 200 unmanned ground vehicles operating in Ukraine by the end of the year, performing various intelligence-gathering and combat missions.”

Based on its wide experience on operations in Ukraine the units being supplied in the future will also include additional versions of THeMIS including anti-tank and other weapons platforms, reconnaissance and engineering options, although Clayton did not give details on the numbers of each variation or a schedule of deliveries.

Ukraine’s Dec. 21 UGS and FPV drone attack

The “Khartia” brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard conducted their first attack that used only UGS and FPV attack drones on Russian positions near the village of Lyptsi, north of Kharkiv on Dec. 21.

The attack reportedly employed dozens of robotic systems rather than infantry soldiers, including unmanned vehicles equipped with machine guns, and drones for laying and clearing mines on enemy positions. As a result of the operation, Russian positions were successfully destroyed.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) commented, “Ukrainian officials have repeatedly highlighted Ukraine’s efforts to utilize technological innovations and asymmetric strike capabilities to offset Ukraine’s manpower limitations in contrast with Russia’s willingness to accept unsustainable casualty rates for marginal territorial gains.”

With the expansion in domestic UGS production bolstered by these latest international additions, Lyptsi may not be the last time that Ukraine’s robots are seen operating autonomously en masse.