NYT: Ukraine's war enters new era of ground robots

Ukraine is rapidly transforming modern warfare through the large-scale deployment of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), with robotic systems increasingly taking on battlefield roles once performed by soldiers, The New York Times writes.

While aerial drones have dominated global attention and reshaped the conduct of war, a quieter technological revolution is unfolding on the ground. Tracked and wheeled robotic vehicles now carry out thousands of missions each month, delivering supplies, transporting ammunition, evacuating wounded troops, laying mines and, increasingly, holding captured positions.

The systems have become an essential asset for Ukrainian infantry units, whose soldiers often spend months in fortified bunkers to avoid constant threats from aerial drones.

According to the report, the latest generation of ground robots is now capable of carrying out offensive operations that until recently appeared years away from becoming reality. In April, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces had captured a Russian-held position using only aerial and ground drones, without exposing a single Ukrainian soldier to direct combat.

The New York Times said Ukraine has moved ahead of even the world's most technologically advanced militaries, including Russia's, in the development of ground robotic systems. Unlike the country's drone industry, which has largely been driven by software engineers, the evolution of ground robots has been led by mechanics, welders and frontline soldiers focused on solving practical battlefield problems.

"Drones developed faster because they were in the hands of highly creative I.T. people," said Oleksiy Honcharuk, a former Ukrainian prime minister and chairman of the board of Uforce, a company that manufactures ground drones. "Ground robotic systems were mostly in frontline infantry units where the work is heavier and more practical — more about figuring out how to bolt things together so they work."

Facing a larger and better-equipped adversary, Ukraine has increasingly relied on technological innovation to offset manpower and equipment shortages. Low-cost, 3D-printed quadcopter drones have become a defining feature of the battlefield, while naval drones have forced much of Russia's Black Sea Fleet to remain in port. Ukrainian drone interceptors have also demonstrated sufficient effectiveness that some have reportedly been deployed to the Middle East to help counter Iranian aerial threats.

Ground combat, however, has remained one of the most difficult areas to automate. Harsh terrain littered with debris and the constant presence of enemy drones have slowed the widespread adoption of unmanned ground systems, while funding and development have historically prioritized aerial drones.

The report highlights Captain Oleksandr Kharkovets, commander of the ground robot battalion in Ukraine's 93rd Mechanized Brigade, as one of the pioneers of the country's robotic battlefield innovation.

Before Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Kharkovets operated an automotive electronics workshop. While fighting in the ruins of Bakhmut in 2023, he concluded that many of the dangerous tasks performed by infantry could instead be carried out by machines.

After being forced to retreat and leaving behind fallen comrades, Kharkovets began designing remotely operated vehicles capable of recovering casualties from the battlefield. He equipped one prototype with a towing hook and a machine gun to retrieve the dead while providing covering fire.

Later that year, the vehicle successfully recovered the body of a fallen soldier that a Ukrainian special forces unit had been unable to reach for a week. Kharkovets documented the mission and presented it to military commanders in an effort to promote wider adoption of ground robotic systems.

"And then," he said, "it took off."

By Vafa Guliyeva