Russia has shifted some of its military emphasis from using aerial drones to using ground “robots,” but one expert told Fox News Digital that such weapons have limited prospects for long-term success and are proving to be more opportunistic than revolutionary.
“This is a really difficult problem,” said Christopher Alexander, chief analytics officer at Pioneer Development Group and a U.S. Army veteran with experience at Strategic Operations Command.
“It’s very difficult to oversee an attack on a target. In the air or underwater, it’s easy to maneuver in open space, but you don’t have the tight control or space that you have on land. It’s confusing.”
“Collect casualties? Yes. Breach doors… Yes, they already have that technology and it works well. They’re usually semi-autonomous or remote-controlled, but it’s a hard problem to solve. The cost per unit is high, [and] This is the most challenging and difficult challenge from a technology point of view, from manufacturing to planning.”
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Russia’s new suicide robot, the Scorpion-M, which resembles an old radio-controlled race car toy, has been used heavily in recent months, especially in the Donetsk region. The robot can carry up to 55 pounds of explosives, allowing it to reach areas that might otherwise be spared from airstrikes.
Russian Scorpion-M combat robot. (East/West)
A video obtained by news agency East2West earlier this month, described by Russian war supporters, shows a Russian brigade using robots to destroy an underground hideout belonging to Ukrainian troops.
“The success of the Scorpion-M has demonstrated the robotic vehicle’s high reliability, maneuverability, and combat effectiveness in performing missions to destroy enemy strongholds and deliver weapons,” one pro-war report said.
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The increased use of drones may have more to do with Ukraine’s approach to defense than any real advantage that ground drones offer over similar weapons: Ukraine has invested heavily in and is demanding anti-aircraft weapons to detect and shoot down aerial drones, meaning their eyes are on the sky, not the ground.
An operator tests the maneuverability and capabilities of a Russian Scorpion-M drone. (East/West)
Russia has had some success with the Scorpion-M, likely because of gaps in its defense mindset, but Alexander suggested that part of the problem is also avoiding issues of jamming and competition for control of the electromagnetic spectrum for communications.
“It’s like a game of spy vs spy, trying to get the drone in the air before they can sabotage it. I read in the Ukrainian infantry records that when a recruit turns on his cell phone, he has to tell them to stop because within 30 minutes he’s under fire,” Alexander explained.
Russian intelligence sources have revealed how the deadly Scorpion-M kamikaze combat robots have been deployed under wartime conditions to “destroy Ukrainian military strongholds” in the Donetsk region. (East/West)
“I think there’s a lot going on in the electromagnetic spectrum that’s making it increasingly difficult to fly and use drones effectively,” he continued. “The advantage of being on the ground is that it’s much harder to jam on the ground, because no one’s working on solving that problem yet.”
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“The current state of the technology means that you can’t deploy these things at the company or battalion level to any great effect beyond the local tactical situation,” he added. “Russia has deployed other drones to Syria, but that program didn’t work.”
Ukraine is also considering using the devices to attack Russian positions in new ways to surprise enemies, such as by using drones to detonate explosives under Russian bridges. Radio Free Europe reported..
Russian intelligence sources have revealed how the deadly Scorpion-M kamikaze combat robots have been deployed under wartime conditions to “destroy Ukrainian military strongholds” in the Donetsk region. (East/West)
Natalia Kushnerska, head of the Ukrainian government agency Vrabel, told the outlet that her organisation has made the development of ground robots “one of our top priorities in order to catch up with other unmanned systems”.
Krzysnerska said the group has received more than 200 unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) designs and has tested around 50 so far, but that the most promising designs are not designed for combat, but would be useful for transporting wounded soldiers from the battlefield.
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“Contacts with the military have revealed that the Defense Forces have suffered many casualties during the evacuation of the wounded,” Krzysnerska said. “By the end of 2024, this [evacuation] UGVs will become a systematic part of how our military operates.”
