It became known that Ukrainian-made Ratel S robotic platform had been successfully tested and put into mass production last fall. A video of the 5th Assault Brigade's warriors was recently released, where this ground robot equipped with mortar shells blows up one of the bridges in the village of Ivanivske in Donetsk Oblast to make it harder for russians to organize logistics in that area.
Ratel S developer and Ukrainian serviceman Taras Ostapchuk, tells Defense Express that this robotic platform can be used in two ways: as a kamikaze robot and as a platform for remote mining.
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The robot can cover distances of up to 6 km, with a working distance of 4 km. The record for the range of a target destruction is 6.3 km. The maximum speed is 22 km/h. As Kamikaze version it can carry up to 35 kg of payload. As a mine laying drone, it can carry two anti-tank mines.
Ostapchuk notes that today the Ratel S robotic platform is systematically supplied Ukrainian militaries at the frontline, and the waiting list for these robotic platforms is currently reaching the end of July, excluding government contracts. "With the government contracts that are now in the final stage, we will be overwhelmed with work until the end of the year," he notes.
Ostapchuk notes that the company delivered its products to militaries only after training, which lasts only two or three days.
Then operators receive a ready-to-use system. "Now the troops are creating companies of ground robotic systems, this process has begun, it is a new story," Ostapchuk says. One Ratel S set consists of five robotic platforms, a repeater and a ground station.
Manufacturer has also other platform such as Ratel M and Ratel H that are approved for operation. They are designed for evacuation and logistics missions. Their range is 10 km from the operator. There is a development based on the Ratel Deminer logistics platform. It is created to destroy mines.
"A kamikaze and a remote mining platform can be used with a drone-repeater. The evacuation platforms are equipped with night cameras and can be operated with infrared lights for one hundred percent. In fact, the enemy cannot see anything, it is total night for the enemy as well as for its eyes, but an operator sees the distance perfectly," Ostapchuk says about the possibility of using the drone at night.
The company is systematically hiring people and scaling up production. "We are now able to ship 40-50 small platforms (Ratel S) and two evacuation platforms. We will reach 100 platforms and five or six evacuation platforms in a month and a half. It depends on funding from the state," Ostapchuk says.
Ostapchuk also says that Ratel S platform is not protected from FPV-drones, and evacuation platforms can operate under basic control with electronic warfare installed on the platform.
Earlier Defense Express reported that CinC of Ukraine`s Forces Syrskii had predicted massive use of combat robotic platforms on the battlefield.
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