Robots instead of soldiers. As Wolly, Fury, Cockroach, and a robot dog perform tasks on the front lines

Robots on the battlefield. They observe, fight, mine territories, deliver ammunition and provisions to the front line. And also evacuate the wounded. Over the past year, Ukrainian inventors have developed more than 200 various ground robotic systems. All of them can be conditionally divided into three groups: strike robots, logistics-evacuator robots, and minelayers. They perform various tasks, but their main goal is to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.

Combat robot “Rage” moves towards the positions of the Russian military and  opens fire with a machine gun. Fighters of the 8th regiment of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine control it remotely, from a safe distance. The robot actually fights for them. The Russian military is trying to stop the robot. They attack with a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher and an fpv drone, but it continues to fight and returns after completing the task.

"I don't know who you have to be to hold a machine gun so tightly. Three such robots can normally close a sector and, in principle, an infantry platoon can lay down or shoot cars,– says                                                            of the robotic complex asks not to be named for security reasons. He says that they started working on the robot in the spring of 22.

"The main feature of our robot is that it is fully armored against debris and small arms. The operator does not need to run to reload it, that is, there is a firing position that he is working on, for example, then he can leave this position himself, drive into some shelter, reload the ammunition and leave again to work.&rdash; says the manufacturer of the “Fury” robot.

The robot is armed with a Kalashnikov machine gun, caliber 7.62. Ammunition – 550 cartridges. Target hitting range – 800 meters. It has two aiming cameras and remote radio control. The battery life depends on the intensity of use – from 3 hours to several days. During operation at the front in new developments, the Ukrainian military usually discovers certain shortcomings. One such challenge for manufacturers – range and quality of communication.

"For the military, this is the biggest issue that interests them. The communication range ensures the safety of the operator's work, that is, the so-called gray zone, it can vary in distance. Therefore, it is important to ensure the communication range, secure communication is also important in electronic warfare. Working time is also important, i.e. mileage, the distance that robots can travel. That is, such modifications aimed at improving these parameters», – says the manufacturer.

"Fury" can identify firing positions, divert the enemy's attention to itself, take turns, and the use of a robot during assault operations is not excluded.

"The military with whom we cooperate have a vision to use it in assault operations as well, it should move in front of the assault group, deflecting enemy fire, identifying enemy fire points and, if possible, suppressing enemy fire positions with fire. That is, in this way we divert attention not to the person, but to the machine», – adds the manufacturer.

At the test site, Yuriy, the operator of another robotic complex, familiarizes the Ukrainian military with their development. Before delivering a combat module to the front line, soldiers are taught how to use it.

Turret Wolly – a new generation weapon capable of independently detecting targets at a distance of up to a thousand meters. From three cameras, the image is transmitted to the monitor. In service – “Kalashnikov” tank machine gun.

«We have a 54-degree firing sector. This is, in principle, a sector of fire for an ordinary gunsmith», – Yuriy explains.

The turret operator fires from the dugout at a distance of up to one hundred meters. A cable is connected to the turret. It can work autonomously for 130 hours. The main task of Wolly – to replace the machine gunner at the position.

«We went in such a way that 90 percent of his work was transferred to artificial intelligence. In this case, artificial intelligence helps to identify targets, track targets, target targets, all that remains to be done by the operator – is to press the fire button», – says Oleg Fedoryshyn, developer of remotely controlled Wolly modules.

The Wolly installation is primarily effective during trench warfare. Precisely at observation points during the defense of positions.

«One of the most effective ways of its use is precisely its use in defense. When the operator is in the dugout or in the trench, respectively, the turret is at a safe distance from the immediate operator. And yes, I believe that one of these correct methods of its application is precisely during the offensive actions of the enemy, – says Oleg Prots, co-founder of the manufacturing company “DevDroid”. He – the perfect scout. Inconspicuous, quiet, will go where it is too risky for personnel. Warriors see great prospects in such scouts, and even think of creating a company of combat dogs.

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"A: you lost connection – no problem, the drone dog continues to stand and watch or listen. B: a dog can write a sound, it is silent, a drone cannot write a sound, because it buzzes. A: I have not yet seen such drones that would fly into the basements of five-story buildings and provide images there unlike such things. This thing can come in, take a look, bring information, or stay there with some 5 kilogram landmine and bury the whole thing,– explains a fighter of the 28th OMBr.

"As our commander said: "You can't buy a new fighter in a store, but you can always buy any drone,", – says another fighter.

Robot miners

The southern direction of the front, the Robotynsky ledge. On the open area of ​​the front edge, the “Cockroach” robot accompanied by a drone in the sky performs a combat mission – crossing the road The Ukrainian military controls it remotely, with the help of a remote control.

« it provokes the enemy to shell», – says "Hulk", sapper 65 OMBr of the Armed Forces.

Saper says, by hand, covering several kilometers in one direction, they usually mine steppes and forest strips. During one of these tasks, he was wounded. It was an fpv drone attack. It was because of the enemy's UAV that the work of sappers at ground zero became extremely difficult and even more dangerous. Part of the work of sappers can now be taken over by a robot. "Hulk" says, "Cockroach" not suitable for all tasks. When it comes to large volumes in short terms – will replace manually faster. But in the gray zone – will send a robot.

«It is necessary, let's say, to move 200 meters from your positions forward. For a sapper – it's an unnecessary risk, it's not just a demining group, it should be cover, that is, it's a whole operation that requires a larger number of people than, for example, the use of one robot, – explains "Hulk".

Mining robots also work as kamikaze. Thanks to them, the Ukrainian military successfully completed more than one task: they blew up Russian trenches and bridges, destroyed the tunnel in which the Russian military was located.

Evacuation-logistics robots

The robot “TerMIT” demonstrates maneuvers on the sand. The wounded and dead are taken out on it, cargo is transported, turrets and mortars are installed on it. But the main task of “TerMIT” – delivery of goods to zero. Transportation of ammunition, logs, construction materials and provisions. The robot can carry up to three hundred kilograms.

"About half of the people go to the hospital precisely because they are carrying heavy logs.  And this helps people now not to break their backs, remotely transport, move the enemy away from them, i.e. fpv, if it reacts or any other installation, it will react to the robot, but it is not a human life», – says Maxim Vasylchenko, director of TENKOR LLC.

Currently, more than 70 “TerMITs” are performing tasks at the front. The basic configuration costs from seven and a half thousand dollars. This company has no government contracts yet. The Brave1 platform facilitates the cooperation of Ukrainian military technology developers with companies, the army and the state. Each development is tested and tested, both on training grounds and in combat conditions. The robot must also receive a NATO weapons code. This quality code gives the green light for government purchases and supplies to the front. How many robots have been sent to the front line – classified.

“All of us, the state, the people have one global task to make sure that robots, not people, fight. There are already more than 250 different types of robots on the platform, today there are already more than 150 companies working in this direction of ground robotic complexes and there are already more than 30 codified robots, and these robots receive their government contracts. In addition to government contracts, there are many different volunteer fees today», – says Natalia Kushnerska, head of the Brave1 cluster.

Such platforms began to be actively used on the front lines to evacuate the wounded. Fighter “Spider” 65 OMBr says that during the evacuation they walked a hundred meters from the platform. After all, the wounded person in it is completely unprotected, and it is difficult to control remotely through the camera, “Spider” admits. And thanks to the “Vepryk” platform they have already taken out several fighters from scratch.

The head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine predicts a rapid growth of land-based drones at the front – Kyrylo Budanov. He told about this during the annual meeting of the Yalta European Strategy.

«Now a new stage of technologies has already begun, these are ground works, but they have only just begun, as they say, to make themselves known, but I think that during this calendar year, their number will multiply, because people are in no hurry to go to battle, let's say, and if you can send a drone – 10 drones, or send one soldier – will always choose to send 10 drones», – says Kyrylo Budanov, head of the GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

This year, in March, for the first time, ground-based robotic complexes were noticed by the Russian military. They used them to transport ammunition. One of them was hit by a Ukrainian fpv drone. For now, drones rule the skies, but the use of ground platforms could soon change the course of the war. The military and manufacturers are convinced that this is the beginning of a new era of war, a war of robots, ideas and technologies, so that in the future as much as possible people will be replaced by machines.