War without soldiers: Ukraine retakes a position with only drones and robots

BarcelonaThe use of robots in war is no longer science fiction: machines that replace soldiers are already operating on today's fronts. And Ukraine – like Gaza – is one of the major testing grounds for military technological development. President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced that the Ukrainian army has driven back Russian troops from a position using only drones and robots, without exposing any humans: "For the first time in the history of this war, we have recaptured an enemy position using only unmanned equipment: ground systems and drones. The occupants surrendered and the operation was carried out without infantry and without losses on our part," he assures.

In recent months, the Ukrainian army has intensified the use of ground robots, which operators direct remotely to carry out assault operations or to rescue wounded or trapped soldiers on the front line, without having to expose infantry or medical or evacuation teams. They are also used in logistical tasks and for demining. According to Zelensky, ground robots have carried out more than 22,000 missions at the front in the first quarter of this year alone. Combined with drones, they are capable of waging war remotely.

In January, for example, the Ukrainian manufacturer of military robots Devdroid explained that its model Droid TW-7.62, which has automatic detection systems with artificial intelligence, had captured three Russian soldiers. The robot fought for 45 days (it had to return to the maintenance point just four kilometers from the front every two days to recharge batteries and ammunition) without any cover from soldiers, and single-handedly managed to keep Russian troops at bay. As Mykola Zinkevych, commander of the third corps of the Ukrainian army, stated, "there is a basic concept: robots don't bleed." This particular model carries a machine gun and a grenade launcher can also be attached. The device has a maximum range of 25 kilometers and can travel at seven kilometers per hour. It can attack targets up to one kilometer away.

The Russian invasion has transformed Ukraine into a center for the development of remotely controlled weapons by land, sea, and air, and also for countering the Kremlin's drones: it is not for nothing that Zelensky has closed agreements with various petromonarchies in recent weeks to sell them interceptors. In fact, a unique ecosystem has been created in Ukraine, in which small and medium-sized military technology companies develop devices that are immediately tested at the front.

Some companies even have workshops very close to the front line. When a device proves useful, manufacturers scale up production based on the needs of each moment. Drones have transformed the reality of war, and there is no longer a front line, but a "kill zone" of twenty kilometers on each side, full of drones where operators locate and shoot at everything that moves. In this context, ground robots have also become indispensable in military logistics, for moving food, ammunition, or communication equipment, in addition to being increasingly present in combat. From this it cannot be deduced that the war is more civilized; on the contrary, it is equally dirty and bloody.

Just as drones have changed the way of fighting, the use of ground robots could mark another revolution, in a war in which cutting-edge technology is used in the trenches.