Ukraine has a new ground-based robot hitting the battlefields, and talk about a multifunctional platform. The unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) is just the latest semi-autonomous device developed by Ukrainian domestic manufacturers.
The Ground Robotic Fire Support Platform is built by Ukraine’s Temerland Military Solutions, and nicknamed the “Gnom.” But it’s certainly not something you’d want to find in your garden.
The Gnom itself is essentially just a drone dolly. Able to be remotely operated from more than a mile away, it can also use on-board GPS guidance to travel to a target area and is designed to operate in environments where electronic warfare countermeasures are being used.
Each Gnom is outfitted with several cameras for navigation and surveillance, and they can perform a number of different missions: everything from simple intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, supply delivery, helping haul injured soldiers off the battlefield — even mine laying and fire support missions.
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Of course, sometimes you don’t know exactly what you’ll encounter, and it’s best to just strap as much kit as you can onto a platform, which is what Temerland did recently.
In a video posted to the company’s Facebook page, a Gnom is seen outfitted with a belt-fed machine gun, some RPGs, and carrying a couple of anti-tank mines and one anti-personnel mine. Pretty much everything but the kitchen sink.
The video was taken while Temerland was testing the beast-mode Gnom before sending it to the front lines, where it will be put through the rigors of actual combat.
After two and a half years of fighting, the Ukrainian armed forces are facing serious shortfalls in manpower. So, tools like the Gnom, which can be used in swarms as well, are seen as the type of force multipliers needed for Ukraine to win against Russia.
Of course, Temerland is not the only drone company developing new tools in Ukraine. As Straight Arrow News reported previously, there are dozens of startups in Ukraine right now developing autonomous vehicles for nearly every domain of war.