New Delhi: This might seem to be a plot point from a futuristic film or a science fiction series, but it is real and happening right now. The popular trope
of machines going into war instead of humans is becoming real.
Something like this happened when Ukrainian land robots and drones controlled by a pilot from the safety of a position miles away from the front line were seen in combat with the Russians in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. “The position was taken without a single shot being fired,” Mykola “Makar” Zinkevych, the commander of the Ukrainian unit that conducted the mission, told
CNN.New era of robotic warfare
Zinkevych, who serves in the “NC13” unit of Ukraine’s Third Separate Assault Brigade, told the news publication that the operation was the first time in history that an enemy position was stormed and prisoners taken by ground robots and drones without the involvement of infantry. While the claim was not independently corroborated, it does show Ukraine’s growing trust in its technological prowess.
Similarly late last year, the Third Army Corps, of which the Third Separate Assault Brigade is part, also talked about a single land robot equipped with a machine gun that had managed to hold off a Russian advance for 45 days. “We must understand that we will never have more personnel, and we will never have a numerical advantage over the enemy,” Zinkevych said, highlighting Russia’s far larger military force. “So, we need to achieve this advantage through technology.”
Ukraine upgrading tactics
The use of drone warfare in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has been unprecedented, with the early phase of the war seeing numerous drone attacks and activity from the Russian side. This has led the Ukrainians to invest and develop their own drone and robotics capabilities.
Now what were originally used mostly to evacuate casualties and resupply troops, are reportedly being more and more used to conduct combat assault missions. Ukraine has now with time become a global leader in battlefield drones and robotic systems, as reported by CNN, with a major push to this coming after the appointment of Mykhailo Fedorov as Ukraine’s defense minister in January.
