As of: April 2, 2024, 10:28 a.m
By: Natascha Berger
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Ukrainian drones destroyed two grenade launcher robots. A video released by the 47th Independent Mechanized Brigade shows the explosion. © 47th Independent Mechanized Brigade/Screenshot Telegram
Drones play a crucial role in the Ukraine war. A video now shows a momentous collision between two unmanned vehicles.
Avdiivka – Drones equipped with explosives are playing a major military role in the Ukraine war. The innovative use of drones has already offered advantages for Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia in February 2022 and has since had to defend itself on all fronts against Putin's forces. Rare video footage now shows Ukrainian kamikaze drones destroying two Russian combat robots with grenade launchers.
Ukrainian kamikaze drone against Russian robot: rare encounter in war
The 47th Independent Mechanized Brigade, a large unit of volunteers in the Ukrainian army, shared the unusual recordings on Telegram. An FPV kamikaze drone is seen hovering near a robot. The military robot is equipped with a small Russian flag, which indicates its origins. Shortly after arriving at the renamed vehicle, the tiny quadcopter descends slightly and detonates. The drone attack only produces a comparatively small explosion - the Russian flag is blown off. According to the video description, the recordings were taken near the war-torn and fallen city of Avdiivka (formerly 32,4000 inhabitants) in eastern Ukraine. No people can be seen in the clip.
The video shows another attack by the FPV drones. Surrounded by rubble and destroyed vehicles sits another Russian war robot. The drone approaches much faster than in the first video. A big explosion occurs. The video zooms out and you can see a thick, high cloud of smoke moving over the war zone. After that, nothing more can be seen of the robot.
Kamikaze drone from Ukraine attacks Russian grenade launcher robot - video shows explosion
It should be noted that none of the Russian robots move. It is not clear from the video footage whether they are already out of service. Ukraine's 47th Independent Mechanized Brigade writes only that Russia has begun using ground-based robots with automated grenade launchers (AGS-17). Both were destroyed by the FPV drones in Avdiivka, as seen in the video. So far there have been isolated cases in which Russia has used these devices, it continues. Exactly which individual cases the Ukrainian armed forces are referring to is not explained further.
Footage showing two unmanned systems like this in combat is very rare. The video can be seen as an indication of how machine-controlled robots and drones could develop modern warfare.
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Drones and unmanned vehicles are playing an increasingly important role in the war in Ukraine
In terms of weapons and personnel, Ukraine was at a disadvantage for a long time during the war compared to the aggressor Russia. However, through increased use of drones, Ukrainian armed forces have been able to achieve increasing success in the fight against the Russian invasion. For example, Russia's losses of Black Sea Fleet combat ships can be largely attributed to Ukraine's unmanned and sophisticated threats. Russia has also invested heavily in unmanned vehicles in recent months. One example is the war robot seen in the video; the country ruled by Putin has also been working on its first unmanned combat aircraft for years.
“What we will see is the use of many cheap, lighter rebranded vehicles,” writes Russian defense and technology developments expert Samuel Bendett on X (formerly Twitter). He works at CNA, the US Navy's research and development center, and regularly provides assessments on developments in the Ukraine war. He believes that the tactic of both Ukraine and Russia is to use unmanned combat vehicles to free soldiers from dangerous situations.
According to Bendett, the next stage will be for the vehicles to be able to operate independently and no longer need to be controlled by people. The reason why such autonomous vehicles have not yet been seen in war is due to the difficulty of developing training models and data sets for a complex battlefield.