Ukraine uses all-drone ground attack force in historic first

[Ryan]

IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE NOTCHED ANOTHER ROBOTIC WARFARE HISTORICAL MOMENT. FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE MANKIND FIRST WENT TO WAR, AN ALL UNMANNED GROUND ATTACK TEAM TOOK ON AND COMPLETED A MISSION. THE OPERATION TOOK PLACE NEAR THE VILLAGE OF LYPTSI, IN UKRAINE’S KHARKIV REGION.

UKRAINE’S KHARTIA BRIGADE, FROM THE COUNTRY’S NATIONAL GUARD, CONDUCTED THE STRIKE USING DOZENS OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS KITTED OUT IN VARIOUS WAYS. FIRST PERSON VIEW, OR FPV, DRONES PROVIDED AERIAL VIEWS OF THE BATTLEFIELD WHILE UNMANNED GROUND VEHICLES TOOK CARE OF THINGS, WELL, ON THE GROUND.

SOME OF THE UGVS CLEARED MINES, WHILE OTHERS LAID MINES. SOME UGVS WERE ARMED WITH MACHINE GUNS, AND PROVIDED COVERING FIRE.

A SPOKESPERSON WITH THE KHARTIA BRIGADE SAID THE ATTACK SUCCESSFULLY ELIMINATED RUSSIAN POSITIONS WITHOUT THE INVOLVEMENT OF INFANTRY. THE INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR SAID THE OPERATION MARKED A SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE IN UKRAINE’S USE OF ADVANCED MILITARY TECH, AND IT ALSO HIGHLIGHTS THE LENGTHS UKRAINE IS GOING TO IN ORDER TO DEAL WITH ITS LACK OF MANPOWER.

FROM THE OUTSET OF THE WAR ALMOST THREE YEARS AGO, UKRAINE FACED A HUGE DEFICIT IN MUNITIONS AND MANPOWER. SO BY NECESSITY, IT’S USED UNMANNED SYSTEMS IN ALL SORTS OF CREATIVE WAYS TO CONDUCT ITS ASYMMETRIC WARFARE AGAINST RUSSIA.

WHETHER IT BE DRAGON’S BREATH DRONES DROPPING THERMITE ON RUSSIAN POSITIONS AND BURNING OUT TREELINES. OR SEA BABY DRONES WHICH CAN ATTACK EVERYTHING FROM HELICOPTERS, TO FIGHTER JETS, TO DISMOUNTED SOLDIERS ON OIL RIGS.

LIKE WE SAID, IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF TIME, REALLY, BEFORE AN ALL UNMANNED GROUND ASSAULT UNIT WAS FORMED AND DEPLOYED. WHAT’S NEXT FOR UKRAINE’S ARMY OF DRONES? THE GENERAL STAFF OF UKRAINE JUST ANNOUNCED IT COMPLETED TRIALS OF AN AERIAL DRONE THAT OPERATES ON FIBER OPTIC CABLES,
MAKING IT MUCH MORE RESISTANT TO THE EFFECTS OF ELECTRONIC WARFARE.

I’M RYAN ROBERTSON, AND IF YOU LIKE STORIES LIKE THIS BE SURE TO LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE TO OUR SOCIAL MEDIA FEEDS. YOU CAN ALSO DOWNLOAD THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP TODAY, OR LOG ON TO SAN.COM