Ukraine turns to nimble unmanned vehicles for safer frontline operations

Rescuers work at a building destroyed during a Russian strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Monday. PIC/PTI

Ukrainian soldiers are increasingly turning to nimble, remote-controlled armoured vehicles that can perform an array of tasks and spare troops from potentially life-threatening missions. The army is deploying what soldiers refer to as "robots on wheels" as it faces a shortage of soldiers. The vehicles look like miniature tanks and can ferry supplies, clear mines and evacuate the wounded or dead.

"It cannot fully replace people," said the commander of a platoon of the 20th Lyubart Brigade who goes by the call sign Miami. "I would put it this way: A person can go in there, but sometimes it's far too dangerous."

The robotic vehicles are mostly made by Ukrainian companies and range in cost from about 1000 dollars to as much as 64,000 dollars, depending on their size and capabilities.Such vehicles are not new to warfare. The German army used a remote-controlled miniature tank, tethered by a wire, called the Goliath in WWII.

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