With losses stacking up -- including the sudden forfeiture of 500 square miles of territory once held in Russia's Kursk region -- Ukraine's military leadership announced on Tuesday that it's deploying machine-gun-equipped robots to the front lines. "The main task of ground robots is to reinforce our units and replace soldiers in the most dangerous areas," said the ministry.
News of the deployment of an unspecified number of these weapon platforms comes as Ukraine continues to struggle with recruiting and conscription. In February, Ukraine launched a new effort aimed at recruiting 18- to 24-year-olds. While it strikes Americans as odd, Ukraine does not draft those who are under age 25. The new recruiting campaign features bonuses roughly equivalent to $24,000, along with mortgage subsidies and free college education. Recruits also win the privilege of traveling abroad -- something that's currently denied to Ukrainian men between 18 and 60. Against the backdrop of the Ukrainian military's ongoing manpower crisis, robots are understandably appealing.
The Ukraine defense ministry touted the Lyut's versatility. "It is designed to perform a wide range of tasks in difficult conditions. In particular, to conduct surveillance and fire support of the actions of our units," the ministry said in its announcement, adding that the official adoption of the equipment comes after testing in "real combat conditions." Specifically, the ministry said the testing took place in Kursk. With Ukraine's diversionary gambit there having now evolved into a full-on failure, that isn't exactly confidence-inspiring.
Called the Lyut -- the Ukrainian word for "fury" -- the compact wheeled robot can fit in the bed of a military pickup truck, and is equipped with a single 7.62mm PKT machine gun and, reportedly, Class 4 armor. It doesn't have tires, but rather steel rims with rubber stretched over them.
Lyut is powered by a "silent" electric motor. The ministry didn't specify the battery life, only offering a vague boast that "the battery capacity is enough for a fairly long operating time." The Ukrainian military-news website Militarnyi, however, was more forthcoming with specifications: "The drone has a battery life of up to 72 hours, a range of up to 20 kilometers, and a driving time of up to 3 hours. The gross weight... is 330 kilograms."
The bots are not autonomous -- rather, a soldier operates it via remote control, with line-of-sight communication stretching up two 2 kilometers. A single operator can simultaneously maneuver the vehicle and fire its machine gun.
Don't expect this to turn the tide for the beleaguered Ukrainian military.
