Ground-based drones intend to change the nature of air defense
Sergei Shoigu at the presentation of an as-yet unnamed unmanned platform
From heaven to earth
A revolution in the skies seems to have taken place – FPV-drones and other brethren seriously and for a long time occupied the air. Two years of special operations were enough for this. Further progress of flying assassins and reconnaissance aircraft will be, rather, evolutionary. The only significant breakthrough expected is the widespread introduction of artificial intelligence. A revolution is expected in the fight against the “birds” - and whoever formalizes the technology faster will become the king of the hill in the literal sense of the word.
Ground-based robotic systems are developing in a completely different way.
By the way, calling wheeled and tracked platforms robotic is not entirely correct - the level of autonomy of such equipment is even lower than that of UAVs. For various reasons, the main one is the unavailability of the software and technological level. Making a flying car work autonomously is much easier than teaching a ground platform to do the same.
In recent months, ground transport and combat platforms have increasingly begun to appear in the area of special military operations. This became a kind of response to the proliferation of FPV drones. In certain sectors of the front, it is mortally dangerous for an infantryman to appear in open space - the ubiquitous drones leave little chance of survival. Therefore, one of the key tasks on the battlefield - transport - is delegated to unmanned platforms. Theoretically, there is nothing critically difficult about creating ground-based drones.
In Russia, craftsmen have been working successfully for a long time in the framework of various competitions and competitions - “RoboFinist”, RTK Cup, Robofest and others. Of course, it’s impossible to directly compare combat platforms with civilian sports crafts, but the principles are very similar. So is the hardware. Specialized technical universities have even more competencies in the field of construction of ground-based drones - for example, MSTU named after. N. E. Bauman. If necessary, the assembly of remotely controlled carts can be organized on a truly massive scale.
In addition to responding to the FPV threat, ground-based remotely controlled vehicles correspond to the realities of positional confrontation in the Northern Military District. Both sides of the conflict are now building such a dense line of defense that sometimes even passing through their fortification lines is fraught with considerable danger. The main threat is represented by minefields shot through by the enemy.
Here you can’t do without a cart that can roll up an AGS and at least a PKM to the enemy’s trenches. Moreover, there should be not just one trolley, but several dozen - only then can we talk about the real combat effectiveness of ground-based drones. Like Tanks, they should go on the attack en masse, and not in single copies.
Robots vs robots
It’s worth mentioning right away that the material will only talk about domestic ground-based unmanned systems—enemy technology is a separate discussion. The Armed Forces of Ukraine have a very diverse group of NATO vehicles, in addition to which there are local home-made vehicles in orderly rows.
An example of a homemade transport platform from the 87th Infantry Regiment.
In the Russian segment of the front, a typical example is the 87th separate rifle regiment, which participated in the liberation of Avdeevka. The soldiers themselves built a fully functional tracked platform for delivering water, ammunition and food to the front line of defense. The strength and power supply of the product turned out to be sufficient for the evacuation of a wounded soldier. In just one video fragment, our servicemen captured a couple of hits from an FPV drone in the immediate vicinity of the platform.
And nothing - the car continued moving, chalking up a couple of kamikaze neo-Nazis. The video dates from the end of last year. A reasonable question: is the Ministry of Defense interested in such successful experience of front-line technical creativity?
Most likely, they did not react in any way, and there are reasons for this. For example, the ground robotic complex BRG-1. In September last year, the developers commented on the appearance of the platform on the front as follows:
“At the moment, one ground-based robotic complex BRG-1 is used in the Northern Military District zone; the product was delivered two months ago. The complex is used both for evacuating the wounded and for delivering cargo.
The platform was created by one of the Russian scientific and production associations together with the People's Front charitable foundation. There are no analogues of the complex in the Northern Military District zone today.”
The platform was created by one of the Russian scientific and production associations together with the People's Front charitable foundation. There are no analogues of the complex in the Northern Military District zone today.”
Performance characteristics of the machine: maximum speed – up to 15 km/h, operating range – up to 700 m from the operator (up to 5 km using a repeater drone), load capacity – up to 250 kg. According to developers from NPO Gran, the vehicle replaces a group of 4 people in an evacuation group.
[Heavy drone "Uran-9"
Heavy unmanned platforms Uran-9 play in another league. The equipment appeared even before the Northern Military District and in many respects does not meet the requirements of the front. The car is just hung weapons – 30-mm 2A72 cannon, ATGM “Attack” and a dozen rocket-propelled flamethrowers “Bumblebee”. Everything would be fine, but the weight of 12 tons and the high cost of the machine do not allow such equipment to be widely introduced.
Now the troops need a mass-produced vehicle, that is, inexpensive, both to manufacture and to operate. However, what kind of operating costs can we talk about if the service life of ground platforms is calculated in a matter of weeks? A couple of months at best.
Reconnaissance version of the ground drone from the "Ghost"
By the way, about attack wheeled and tracked drones.
Due to the acute shortage of such equipment in the troops, the craftsmen in the rembats are doing whatever they can. An unmanned ground vehicle (UGV), which is an analogue of FPV drones, was tested near Melitopol.
The developer with the call sign “Ghost” rightly points out the clear advantages of ground-based kamikazes: large payload capacity, the vehicle can be returned home if the combat mission changes, and there is no need for long and expensive operator training. Anyone who played with a remote-controlled car as a child will easily master the Ghost car.
Judging by open information, “Ghost” has an entire front-line robotics studio. To order, his team is ready to produce both miniature reconnaissance aircraft and quite large platforms intended for delivering the wounded to evacuation points.
Apparently, these kids made a good splash in the enemy camp
Not so long ago, the North Military District flashed in the information space news on the use of AGS grenade launchers on tracked carriers at the front. The good-looking cars fell into the lenses of enemy observers and immediately made a lot of noise.
Bandera’s followers, of course, hastened to announce the worthlessness of the product, and domestic commentators almost announced the advent of an era robots in a special operation. The machine is really interesting and seems to be made in the most optimal form factor.
Given the small size of the platform, the ability to fire direct fire is unlikely to be needed in combat, hence the AGS on board. The tactics of use are incredibly simple - with the support of a spotter drone, approach within effective shot range and quickly use out all the ammunition. If the hits on the enemy were successful, then there is no shame in dying by the death of brave robots.
There is hope that these seemingly unsightly machines will soon appear at the front. Sergei Shoigu approved.
Just the other day, Defense Minister Shoigu was shown an extremely interesting development - a universal platform that combines an ammunition and food transporter, an evacuation and attack vehicle with two anti-aircraft guns. The minister greeted the initiative positively and demanded that it be put into mass production as soon as possible. Shoigu's wishes also included the installation of a heavy machine gun to support assault operations.
The emergence of a wide variety of remotely controlled platforms is both exciting and depressing. It’s good because the fighters will have another tool to preserve life and health, both in attack and defense. Great diversity means, first of all, a low degree of unification of samples. UAVs are simpler in this sense - individual components are interchangeable to one degree or another.
And the cost of an FPV kamikaze is incomparably lower than a high-quality trolley for evacuating the wounded from the front line. In which case, a cheap drone can be neglected. This trick won't work with an expensive combat platform. It will not always be possible to find spare parts for the repair and maintenance of a motley crew.
The recent presentation of pre-production samples of unmanned wheeled and tracked vehicles to Minister Shoigu showed the vectors of development of the domestic military-industrial complex in this sector.
It is too early to talk about the coming revolution of ground-based drones at the front. But one thing needs to be understood - with the proper level of saturation of troops with unmanned products, the situation on the line of contact can seriously change in our favor.
The main thing now is not to waste time and not give the initiative into the hands of the enemy. As was already the case in stories with FPV.
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