Russia made strides in the large-scale use of ground drones last week during an attack on the village of Berdychi in the Donetsk People’s Republic.
During the assault, Russian forces deployed a group of tracked unmanned platforms equipped with AGS-17 automatic grenade launchers.
The drones were performing the role of fire support during the attack by suppressing enemy gun placements, and were able to continue operating in situations where human losses from enemy fire would have been inevitable, said Boris Rozhin, a military expert with independent Russian military affairs think tank the Center for Military-Political Journalism.
During an interview with Sputnik, Rozhin pointed out that ground assault drones have been around for quite some time, and what makes this particular attack stand out is the group deployment of these weapons for direct combat engagement.
“Russia became the first country to deploy a group of (ground) assault drones in real combat. While this type of drone does not currently have an official name, it became the first assault drone to be used in a conflict,” Rozhin pointed out.
According to him, this type of drone can be outfitted with different types of weaponry and used for non-combat missions as well, including medevac and supply runs.
“A drone can perform a mission or destroy something without the risk of losing people. Such a drone is an expendable asset that helps save the lives of our men,” Rozhin explained. “It has a huge sphere of application. The large number of ongoing experiments involving the use of wheeled and tracked ground drones is no coincidence.”
The expert also predicted that this particular weapon type is going to see further improvement in the immediate future and, just like FPV drones, is going to become an increasingly common sight on the battlefield.
“We are among the world leaders in this area and obviously we are going to witness further robotization of warfare, including ground war,” Rozhin said, adding that Russia currently has the means to use ground drones for security purposes and combat missions.