Earlier this year, Russian combat engineers employed a similar trick to take out a Ukrainian strongpoint, using an MT-LB multi-purpose armored vehicle loaded with aircraft bombs.
Commenting on these developments, retired Russian naval officer and military analyst Vasily Dandykin remarked that such tactics are hardly anything new as it is essentially mine warfare, pointing out that unmanned ground vehicles loaded with explosives were used as early as during World War II.
Noting that Russia already has drones equipped with cannons, anti-tank missiles and automatic grenade launchers, Dandykin argued that land-based kamikaze drones are unlikely to become a common occurrence.
“When the need arises, of course, [land-based] engineering drones may be used, the ones used for mine-sweeping,” he mused. “But this is a whole different matter. Such drones are already being actively used, quite successfully, I might add.”
The analyst observed that kamikaze attacks are primarily used by airborne and naval drones, noting how Ukraine recently attempted to use the latter type of weaponry to attack Russian warships in the Black Sea and the Russian port of Sevastopol.
As for what kind of land-based drones might appear on the battlefield in the future, Dandykin suggested that these unmanned vehicles will likely be remotely controlled and designed for repeated use, striking at the enemy with onboard weaponry instead of simply blowing themselves up.
“After all, even when [land-based] drones are being used, it is only those that are remotely controlled and can be returned home,” he said.