Ukraine Expands Ground Drone Warfare

The Ukrainian military is increasingly deploying unmanned ground vehicles to replace soldiers on the most dangerous frontline missions. The NC13 unit of Ukraine’s 3rd Army Corps uses the vehicles for tasks including attacks, resupply and the evacuation of wounded soldiers.

Among them are four-wheeled drones nicknamed “Hyenas”, which can deliver approximately 20 kg of explosives to Russian positions to destroy fortifications or halt enemy advances. According to Ukrainian soldiers, similar drones have already forced Russian troops to surrender.

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, ground drones have carried out more than 50,000 logistics and evacuation missions this year. They are also used to carry machine guns, explosives and rocket launchers.

Their main advantage is reducing the risk to soldiers on a battlefield where movement is severely hampered by ubiquitous reconnaissance and attack drones.

Andriy Biletskyi, commander of the 3rd Army Corps, described the gradual replacement of infantry with ground drones as another “revolution” in warfare. By the end of the year, his corps aims to replace approximately one-third of the soldiers deployed on the front lines with the technology.

Ground drones, however, are not yet capable of fully replacing infantry. They struggle with physical obstacles and, unlike soldiers, cannot independently clear a building or trench. Their wider deployment is also constrained by insufficient production capacity.

(Reuters, mja)