For Maximum Effect, Ukraine Teams Ground Robots With Aerial Drones

Constant innovation, experimentation and adaptation has given Ukraine a distinct edge in fighting  much larger if bureaucratic Russia.

The latest example is Ukraine's growing ability to combine aerial and ground robot operations to optimize their effectiveness and lethality. JL

Sinead Baker reports in Business Insider:

Ground round robots are very effective on their own, but "when combined, it's more effective than using just an FPV drone or just a ground drone." Uncrewed systems have different strengths and weaknesses in battle. The robots carry heavier weaponry and enter Russian positions, like dugouts, more easily. But aerial drones have the advantage in speed and situational awareness. Flying drones can arrive at target positions first and inform other uncrewed operations, making the operation more effective. "A crucial difference between aerial and ground unmanned systems is the mass that they can carry." A ground robot carrying 66 pounds of explosives into a basement eliminates Russian infantry inside. The biggest aerial drones can carry mines that weigh 22 pounds, while even the smallest ground robots can take 48 pounds. Ground robots armed with machine guns and grenade launchers, are even more powerful when they work alongside its flying drones

Ukraine's ground robots, armed with weapons like machine guns and grenade launchers, are even more powerful when they work alongside its flying drones, a key manufacturer told Business Insider.

Ukraine is using a fleet of ground robots to fight Russia's invasion while keeping its soldiers further back from the front lines. They're a newer but growing addition to its massive arsenal of uncrewed systems attacking and frustrating Russia.

DevDroid, a Ukrainian robotic systems maker, said that pairing aerial drones with the ground robots unlocks even more options and capabilities in a fight.

It's an emerging form of robotic combined-arms warfare. Flying drones can scout, target, and guide the attack, while ground robots can bring heavier weapons and explosives directly to Russian positions.

The ground robots are very effective on their own, but "when you use everything combined, it's more effective than using just an FPV drone or just a machine or just a ground drone," Oleg Fedoryshyn, the director of R&D at DevDroid, told BI, referring to first-person-view drones. 

The different uncrewed systems have different strengths and weaknesses in battle. The robots can carry heavier weaponry and can often enter Russian positions, like dugouts, more easily.

But aerial drones have the advantage in speed and overall situational awareness, something the robots hugging the ground lack. Flying drones can arrive at target positions first and inform other uncrewed operations, making the operation more effective overall.

For instance, in a combat situation, an aerial surveillance quadcopter drone — often cheaper and much more familiar to troops than robotic ground vehicles — can find targets and direct fire for a heavily armed robot, Fedoryshyn said.

DevDroid makes a host of robotic systems as well as mounts so that weapons, like machine guns and grenade launchers, can be added.

Those weapons are heavy. The M2 Browning, a century-old American machine gun, is a popular weapon for the robots, as they are readily available in Ukraine and considered very reliable. It's considered too heavy, though, for one soldier to carry over long distances.

"It's quite hard for a soldier to take a Browning himself," Fedoryshyn said. 

A Ukrainian soldier in charge of his unit's ground robots previously told Business Insider that the robots can also carry heavy explosive payloads that pack much more of a punch than the explosive-laden FPV drones that are prolific along the front lines.

"A crucial difference between aerial and on-the-ground unmanned systems is the mass that they can carry," Oleksandr Yabchanka, the head of the robotic systems for Ukraine's Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, said.

He said that Ukraine needs to "always be one step, half a step ahead of the enemy in terms of the powers of destruction." And that's where the ground robots come into play.

He said that his unit drove a ground robot carrying 66 pounds of explosives into a basement held by Russia. The detonation eliminated the Russian infantry inside.

Yabchanka said that the biggest aerial drones can carry mines that weigh 22 pounds each, while the smallest ground robots that he works with can take more than 48 pounds. The larger ones can carry much more. 

Their role in gathering intelligence is limited compared to drones in the sky, he said. His unit sometimes uses them that way, but the landscape makes it difficult. The robots' cameras can be easily blocked by tall grass and other vegetation. Putting eyes in the sky for these assets helps overcome that particular challenge.

Ukraine's use of ground robots is soaring. Beyond attacks and reconnaissance, Ukraine is using them to evacuate wounded soldiers, lay and remove mines, and carry equipment.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last month that Ukraine's ground robots had carried out more than 22,000 missions on the front lines in the previous three months. He said they are replacing humans in risky actions.

That marks a major increase from the around 2,000 missions officials previously said ground robots had carried out in the six months leading up to December.

Ukraine is investing heavily in these systems. Zelenskyy said last month that he had tasked officials with making at least 50,000 ground robots this year, and Ukraine's defense minister said that the goal is to have 100% of front-line logistics done by robotic systems instead of humans.

Ukraine wants robots to take over as many battlefield roles as possible, a priority for a country with a far smaller population and military than Russia.