Ukrainian soldiers of the 5th Assault Brigade have published a notable video from the war frontlines: an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) controlled by Ukrainian operators, performed an assault on a stronghold occupied by russian invasion forces.
What we see in the video below is the Ironclad UGV, a development of Ukraine-based Roboneers, part of the Brave1 cluster of defense tech industries. In September 2023, Mykhailo Fedorov, Brave1 founder and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, announced that units had already started real combat deployment of these robots, now there is also the first footage of such deployment.
Read more: Ukrainian Ironclad UGV Helps in Assault Operations and Provides Fire Support on the Frontline
For a brief reminder, Ironclad has declared specifications, as featured in the booklet page below. Its intended functions are versatile: from reconnaissance to support fire and assault of enemy trenches. The design of two interconnected platforms provides for good cross-country mobility, facilitating those tasks.
What's interesting, is that the armament seems to be altered. The standard version comes with a ShaBlia M2 machine gun turret (caliber 7.62mm). This family of turrets has been the primary weapon since the very presentation of this drone, which took place in 2018.
However, this footage features a grenade-launching vehicle. The low quality of the video does not allow for certainty, yet the ballistic trajectory and impact of the rounds on the ground indicate a potential integration of an automatic grenade launcher onto Ironclad.
The offense tactic is a standard dual-drone attack: a robot in action on the ground plus an aerial vehicle watching it from above. Tracer rounds make it easier to adjust fire on enemy positions.
People's Project website, which was the first to reveal Shablia in 2015 and subsequently Shablia M2, notes that this weapon station comes in at least three versions: armed with PKT or PKM machine guns, or with a grenade launcher of the AGS family (40mm). There are no photos so far of the grenade launcher variant online, so this could be the first public appearance of this turret system.
However, the location of the magazine feed on the left side of the barrel looks more indicative of some Western-type grenade launcher, like the Mk19.
Earlier Defense Express also covered how Ukrainian forces experiment with Trail-Blazer — a UGV, recently delivered to one of Ukraine's tank units — potentially marking a new page in the history of tank warfare with attempts to synergize tanks with ground drones.
Read more: The UK Defense Intelligence: Ukrainian UAVs Strike russian Equipment in Krynky, 90% Destroyed by FPV Drones
