Russia struggles to showcase effective combat robots in Ukraine
3:28 PM EDT, July 18, 2024
The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Valery Gerasimov, had the opportunity to admire models of Russian robotics. We present their performance and potential basis.
For years, the Russians have emphasized the need to create land robots, but outside of prototypes like the Uran-9, these robots are not seen in Ukraine, except the Uran-6 used for demining. In contrast, the Ukrainian side shows much more significant progress in developing and deploying controlled rovers and defense turrets.
Recently, Russia prepared a demonstration for Valery Gerasimov, but not everything went according to plan. One of the robots almost got stuck on a simulated obstacle, showcasing the challenges faced.
Robots in war — useful but more difficult to use than expected
The idea of using armed robots instead of soldiers on the battlefield for objectives such as attacking strong fortifications is an appealing vision but not yet feasible.
Due to electronic warfare systems, a high level of autonomy is required, which is currently only observed in flying drones. These military-grade drones can strike predefined targets even after losing contact with their pilots.
The situation is more challenging on the ground, where range is limited. Communication would best be handled via deployed fiber optic cables, similar to those used by many anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). This significantly limits the range, and for the Ukrainian IRONCLAD robot, the "cable" range is only 0.6 miles.
This means that bringing an armed machine, weighing tens or even hundreds of kilograms, into the combat zone is logistically demanding. Some of the most significant successes in ground robots are seen from companies such as the Estonian Milrem Robotics and the American Textron Defense Systems.
In comparison, the Russian robots presented look like models hastily assembled with available materials to satisfy Valery Gerasimov at the demonstration. The first robot is equipped with a multi-caliber machine gun, such as the NSW or Kord, caliber 12.7x108 mm, with a sound suppressor. The second is a transport variant.
Some commentators suggest that the armed variant is based on a Chinese commercial robot, TR600, for $4,000, to which the Russians added steel plates for protection, including the sides. The Chinese robot supposedly can operate on battery power for up to two hours and carry loads up to 265 pounds.
