The Czech defense company Isolit-Bravo has donated eight Trail-Blazer robotic platforms to the Armed Forces, with four more soon to be delivered. These unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) have been put into operation by one of Ukraine's tank brigades, Czech website Hospodarske Noviny reports. The robots will be used to transport cargo and evacuate wounded soldiers.
On the part of Defense Express, if the arrival of these drones to a tank unit specifically turns out to be true, then it's an important indicator that the Ukrainian military is already nearing the solution to one of the most pressing doctrine-level issues in modern warfare: how to integrate tanks with robotic platforms, or if such integration should occur at all in battles against the russians.
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Trail-Blazer carry up to 350 kilograms of cargo, travel at speeds of 4 km/h to 8 km/h, cover distances of up to 32 kilometers, and operate autonomously for up to 8 hours. When remotely controlled, the signal reception range is limited to 1 kilometer.
These specifications imply that a Ukrainian tank brigade will get a dozen UGVs with excellent load capacity, operational duration, and good passability with crawler tracks, and worth noting, it's quite a substantial quantity for one unit.
However, the control range of only 1 kilometer raises the question of how to provide effective fire support for these robotic platforms on the battlefield. The russians tend to heavily prioritize such vehicles and use all means available to destroy them.
Interestingly, about a month ago, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a London-based think tank, published a comprehensive study on the future of armored forces in modern warfare.
One of the paragraphs of this study explored the question of whether combat robots would be able to replace tanks and other armored vehicles eventually. The answer was no. Robotic platforms lack the required firepower and protection. However, tanks and robots can complement each other on the battlefield, if applied correctly.
Thus, it turns out that the dilemma of interaction between main battle tanks and robotic systems on a battlefield, which was purely theoretical just a month ago, now can be put to a practical test. And the Ukrainian Armed Forces are the ones to make the first step and pave the way with hands-on experience.
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