Ukraine has become a “war laboratory”, a military testing ground for future technologies and a training ground for Western weapons systems, integrating machines into military operations to gain an edge over Russia.
Guided by a pilot in a bunker a few miles away, the Zmiy (Snake) is one of dozens of Ukrainian-made robots helping Kyiv replace soldiers with machines. It silently crawls low to the ground, detonating Russian mines in its path.
Kyiv has pledged to deploy around 15,000 robots on the battlefield by the end of 2025 in an effort to compensate for manpower shortages at the front, where Ukrainian troops are outgunned and often outmanned by the enemy at a rate of three to one.
The increasing presence of robots on the battlefield foreshadows a future in which humans and machines will fight each other, with even highly trained soldiers unable to compete with the capabilities of robots controlled by a pilot from a bunker. Although the "war of the robots" is still in the early experimental stages, it has already begun.
“Ukraine is world leading in robotics – not in sophistication, but in practicality,” said David Kirichenko, an expert in autonomous systems at the Henry Jackson Society, a British think tank, adding that the focus is on creating robots in large numbers at affordable prices.
The country is home to more than 500 defense startups specializing in unmanned systems working in secret locations across Ukraine, while large flows of investment, donations and government contracts are driving innovation. With a direct link between soldiers and designers, the development process is agile, allowing changes to be made in as little as a week.
Ukraine was also the first military to form a dedicated drone force - the Unmanned Systems Forces.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are responsible for 60-70% of Russian equipment losses on the battlefield, making them twice as effective as any other weapon in Ukraine's arsenal.
Looking to the future, joint autonomous operations of UAVs and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) are on the horizon, although the full capabilities of this technology have yet to be developed.
“It set the ground for a future where drones could be launched from other drones and co-ordinate with one another,” said Marcel Plichta, a former analyst for the US Defense Department.
“This is something Western militaries should be watching.”