Press service of the 61st Mechanized Brigade has shown an unmanned ground vehicle made by its servicemen. The wheeled platform roughly one meter in length is named Lut (Ukrainian for "Wrath"), the photos indicate it's equipped with a 7.62mm PKT machine gun and mostly improvised other components.
The specifications are not provided but the role of this robotic platform is simple to guess: it travels to a firing spot and shoots from there, keeping the operator safe from backfire.
Read more: Ukraine’s Commander Shares His Experience with Combat Robots on War
Apparently, this robot is a spontaneous initiative from the soldiers in the field rather than a novel product handed by the command, and it hasn't hit mass production. It can prove effective against the russian "assault group" tactics, aiming to scatter the attacking force to make artillery fire against such targets inefficient.
Importantly, even if the Lut and similar developments do enter serial production, as happened to the famous ShaBlia remotely controlled weapon station, this equipment needs to be only part of more complex and comprehensive measures aimed at improving Ukrainian defenses. Among other issues, there is still the necessity to create an integral line of defense with concrete fortifications.
Notably, unlike aerial drones of various types, the deployment of ground robotic systems by the Ukrainian Defense Forces is not paid much attention. However, there are interesting examples of development and application in this domain as well.
For example, the ground-based kamikaze drones which first became known from reports dating March 2023, during the intense battles in the Bakhmut operational zone. There was also, an interesting episode in January 2024, during the fighting for Avdiivka: a suicide robot fitted with a 55-kg KZ-4 explosive charge was used to blow up an important bridge on the path of the russian invasion forces.
Defense Express also covered how Ukrainian forces use the Ironclad UGV from Roboneers in assault missions and fire support, and shared the video of one such drone blasting a russian position with a volley of grenades.
Read more: Ukraine Uses U.S. JDAM Bombs to Destroy russian Depots (Video)
