The Ukrainian Armed Forces will create units with ground drones that will be deployed at the front, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said today, quoted by Reuters, BTA reports.
The ministry published a photo of a ground drone with a firearm mounted on it, after also announcing its initiative on “Telegram“.
Unmanned vehicles – especially flying ones – have become the main weapon in the war since the Russian invasion began in 2022, Reuters reports. Both sides in the conflict use thousands of aerial drones every month, but it is now crucial to replace as many ground troops as possible with unmanned ground systems (UGS) as Ukraine faces a shortage of manpower, officials say. The Defense Ministry is launching a project that will expand the scope of the use of unmanned ground systems in the armed forces, Umerov said in a statement published on the ministry's website. It added that the project is based on tests conducted in cooperation with soldiers since the summer of 2024.
Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said in December that Ukraine would need tens of thousands of BNS this year.
Units on both sides of the war are already using BNS, usually controlled remotely by a pilot via a camera.
The defense minister said the drones would be used for attacks, defense, logistics, evacuation of victims and laying or neutralizing mines.
“Our goal is to create an armed force in which innovative technologies help perform the most dangerous tasks and thus save the lives of our defenders,“ he added.