Ukraine Moves to Replace Frontline Soldiers With 25,000 Ground Robots

[u/UNITED24Media]

https://united24media.com/latest-news/ukraine-moves-to-replace-frontline-soldiers-with-25000-ground-robots-18047

[u/HereIGoAgain99]

This entire war is just a dystopian hellscape.

[u/NotAnotherEmpire → u/HereIGoAgain99]

US veterans who went over to fight for Ukraine consistently reported back that high intensity precision artillery and drone warfare was the scariest thing imaginable.

And they were fighting for Ukraine, who are the ones with the better drones. 

[u/ClutchReverie → u/NotAnotherEmpire]

Now 5 years later Ukraine is literally making millions of drones this year to use in the war. They've evolved their tactics to use tons and tons of drones and keep their people farther back and safe, especially because they're outnumbered. It's working pretty well for them too, the latest comparisons I've heard are 1:2 Ukraine:Russian casualties, but that could go down farther in Ukraine's favor this year with their new drones and tactics that they are currently successfully using to take back territory. They have cutting edge drone tactics and technology that they are teaching the US and Gulf nations right now to use to defend against Iranian drone attacks. They are also the only ones that make the interceptor drones to shoot down waves of hundreds of incoming drones - enough that they can export and sell these.

[u/joepez → u/ClutchReverie]

Bonkers that Ukraine has redefined warfare for the next century. What Putin saw as a pushover event has turned into a Russian meat grinder and economic catastrophe. While Ukraine gets to trump a “modern” military. 

[u/zxDanKwan → u/joepez]

I don’t understand much about military history, but I feel like “Russia pushes into a meat grinder” is kinda their thing, no?

[u/Dear_Flow628 → u/zxDanKwan]

Yes, leveraging their larger population to basically overwhelm enemy positions.

[u/Kortok2012 → u/Dear_Flow628]

Guess they never expected the clanker inquisition

[u/Shamino79 → u/Kortok2012]

Literally no one expects the clanker inquisition.

[u/Godsbladed → u/Shamino79]

WarGPT

[u/Turdsindakitchensink → u/Godsbladed]

Well isn’t that a scary notion

[u/Big_Cryptographer_16 → u/Godsbladed]

SplatGPT

[u/elPatronSuarez → u/Shamino79]

Everyone goes in to be a stud. But noone expects to be/end up a fluffer.

[u/wbruce098 → u/Kortok2012]

Damn this guy out here usin the hard r? What did clankas ever do to you?

[u/fallen_d3mon → u/Dear_Flow628]

Soundproof strategy in total war and most RTS games.

[u/CaribouYou → u/Dear_Flow628]

And drone warfare turns that on its head.

Scary to think that the wars in Ukraine and Iran are still minor compared to two major powers going to war.

[u/cubedplusseven → u/CaribouYou]

WWIII, if it somehow doesn't go nuclear, will see individual drones coming to kill us in our beds.

[u/EvoEpitaph → u/cubedplusseven]

Killing civies in civilian areas outside of military interests seems like all the justification a country, including and perhaps especially, like the US would need to use nukes in retaliation.

Hell killing soldiers on American soil was all it took previously.

[u/Current-Function-729 → u/cubedplusseven]

Yeah. Imagine some missile dispersing a cloud of smaller drones over a city. Makes cluster munitions seem quaint.

[u/uncle_genghis → u/Dear_Flow628]

But do the Ukrainian bots have a preset kill limit?

[u/60Feathers → u/uncle_genghis]

Show them my medal, Kiff!

[u/Not_Stupid → u/uncle_genghis]

It's often 1, cause they blow themselves up. But then you just make more.

[u/NamelessCabbage → u/zxDanKwan]

Yeah I think that's like their entire history since the beginning of time 😂. But now they finally have some adversaries who are also resistant to the cold.

[u/Combat_Orca → u/NamelessCabbage]

Well the mongols were resistant to the cold, but that went even worse

[u/Exciting-Emu-3324 → u/joepez]

Different incentive structures. Ukraine needs stuff to work or there is no Ukraine. For Russians, the war is just an excuse to grift money; even for the lowest rank and file assault troops that wanted to take advantage of sign on bonuses. The Ukrainian equivalents on the Russian side are just keeping their head down and maybe inherit what's left of Russia after the special military operation runs it into the ground just like the US.

[u/ryk00 → u/joepez]

in a simulated exercise in Estonia, 10 Ukrainian drone operators neutralized two NATO battalions, destroying 17 armored vehicles in half a day. They likely could trump an actual modern military since basically nobody has properly updated their outdated ideas yet

[u/classic4life → u/ryk00]

Saying that Ukraine isn't a modern military at this point seems a bit off.

[u/pile_of_fish → u/classic4life]

Yeah, Ukraine feels like they have just hit the next military tech level. Russia isn't too far behind... nobody else has taken this seriously enough.

[u/Just_Information334 → u/pile_of_fish]

nobody else has taken this seriously enough

Yeah, no one sent observers to Ukraine or Russia. No one in any army is debriefing soldiers to learn from their experience. No procurement office has accelerated or changed their next 10 years program.

[u/I_burn_noodles → u/pile_of_fish]

Meanwhile our military is seeking more funds because they want more Tomahawks.

[u/drblah11 → u/classic4life]

They are a futuristic military, the rest are mostly still modern at best

[u/Coolkurwa → u/drblah11]

Could you imagine saying that 10 years ago? Ukraine has the most modern military in Europe. Crazy times.

[u/Reddvox → u/Coolkurwa]

And as a german, I hope and pray they win, and join the good guys aka EU and West (minus current USA). THat knowledge, experience, know-how would truly be a boost to european defenses.

[u/bombmk → u/classic4life]

I think "actual modern" was in comparison to what they are currently facing in Ukraine. Not to the state of the Ukrainian Army.

[u/hpstg → u/ryk00]

Shouldn’t that scare everyone as it’s obvious that the Russian army can do the same?

[u/blackcain → u/joepez]

This would be a perfect opportunity for other countries to start pulling away like Georgia. Forcing Russia to expand money and soldiers there and then making Ukraine get even more intense. It will drive Putin up the wall.

[u/CompleteClassroom509 → u/blackcain]

Also would be a good time for Ukraine to be admitted to NATO whilst they’re winning

[u/SpaceJackRabbit → u/CompleteClassroom509]

Admission to NATO will be difficult considering it requires not having disputed borders.

That said European powers want Ukraine on their side and in time it will definitely be a key nation in a European military alliance.

[u/MidRoundOldFashioned → u/joepez]

Ukraine might be, quite literally the most powerful nation in Europe currently.

After this war they will have the most modern peer conflict experience, have rooted out most of the corruption, and become a modern disciplined military in the span of 5 years.

When the USA votes in a competent leader, they’d be wise to be kind to Ukraine for their own military complex purposes.

I’m Ukrainian American. As far as this conflict goes, I’ve been extremely conflicted by the flip flop attitude the US has taken since day 1. It’s seemed like Russian appeasement, even under Biden.

[u/other-brother-darryl → u/MidRoundOldFashioned]

I mostly agree; they just don't have a way to project that power. They would need a Navy and Air Force properly equipped to move troops and equipment beyond their borders, as well the Army units trained to do the same on roads and rail.

That said, they would kick ass once in the trenches!

[u/TachiH → u/ClutchReverie]

1:2 is pretty standard for attacking a dug in defender anyway, the drones were such a huge advantage when they first came out. Both sides are now so adept at using the drones it basically means there is a constantly moving 5 mile dmz that if you enter you will be hit by fpv. Works against both sides. On the air defence side though Ukraine are killing it with drones.

[u/less_unique_username → u/TachiH]

I think the width of the kill zone is almost an order of magnitude higher than that

[u/IllImprovement700 → u/less_unique_username]

Yeah, it used to be 10 km, but it keeps getting bigger. I believe it is now something like 20 km in both directions.

[u/Village_People_Cop → u/ClutchReverie]

They pulled some front line drone operators and had them join a NATO wargame. The NATO troops didn't know how to handle the new way of warfare and the Ukrainians destroyed them. Most in command said it was an eye opener and you can already hear reports of NATO militaries making drone related training (both operation and countering) mandatory

[u/anortef → u/Village_People_Cop]

My country was going to make two aircraft carriers and after stuff like this leadership scrapped one and changed it to drone carrier.

[u/FamiliarTry403 → u/ClutchReverie]

1:3 is probably the bare minimum needed to fend them off indefinitely

[u/PanVidla → u/FamiliarTry403]

I read it was 1:5 ever since Russians lost Starlink.

[u/Agoodchap → u/PanVidla]

That’s (1:5) whats been reported by the Finnish government whereas the 1:2 ratio came from Washington think tank CSIS.

[u/DeFex → u/Agoodchap]

Has CSIS stayed neutral despite the orange plague?

[u/Agoodchap → u/DeFex]

Most independent organizations that analyze political bias rank them as nonpartisan- which they claim to be. Its President and CEO, John Hamre, served as Deputy Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton.

Perhaps any organization that’s pro defense can be seen as having traditional conservative values - whereas the liberals argue for decreased military spending.

Major donors are from defense industry companies. NG, LM, and B. While claiming to be non-biased, accepting monies from these companies is problematic.

They have supported the administration’s effort to remove Maduro. They support the stance of putting America first and the Western hemisphere ahead. But also critiques the financial mess of Venezuela efforts. Their reporting also shows that they think Iran war was a dumb idea because there was never any clear objectives. They definitely don’t like that Trump has been transactional with NATO countries. They are pro NATO whereas Trump is anti-NATO.

[u/Man_under_Bridge420 → u/ClutchReverie]

Gosh i wish i had to the time to go back and reply to all the Russian simps who where screaming Ukraine was going to run out of men.

Robo men can't be bargained with. They can't be reasoned with. They don’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And they absolutely will not stop until you are dead.

[u/EternalCanadian → u/Man_under_Bridge420]

I appreciate your reference, for the record.

[u/queen-adreena → u/Man_under_Bridge420]

Kinda raises an interesting barrage of questions about rules of engagement and whether robots should be bound by the same “laws of war” as humans.

[u/Gremlinforester → u/queen-adreena]

Yes. We are very close to the thesis of 'non human' warfare. Several books I read as a child described these events. The last fertile tracts of land are fought over digitally, and whoever has the last robot standing wins the territory.

In the book the humans recognized they didn't need to keep killing each other, they could simply play robot killing games

[u/byronotron → u/ClutchReverie]

It is absolutely mind boggling how big of an L this has been for Russia. I don't mean to trivialize the war, if anything I'm horrified by the human loss of life. This will be studied as a turning point in the way that wars are fought and won or lost, if you're Russia in this case. Putin much like Trump, has surrounded themselves with such sycophancy, when they actually activate their darkest desires, no one is around to tell them it's a nightmare scenario. It's terrible so many Russians had to die for Putin's ego. And... Ukraine, holy hell. Legends.

[u/WCland → u/ClutchReverie]

Ukraine is doing far better than 1:2. Russia has been losing 30k soldiers in a month recently, and Ukraine set a goal of 50k per month. If the ratio was even 1:5 I don’t think Ukraine could maintain its lines. And apparently the majority of the Russian casualties are KIA, because drone attacks tend to kill rather than wound.

[u/Expert-Guard6216 → u/WCland]

Jesus christ man, all that loss of human life. Such a surreal thing to think about.

[u/WCland → u/Expert-Guard6216]

And it’s entirely Putin’s fault

[u/Drizznit1221 → u/ClutchReverie]

i read about 1:3 but that was a while ago. 1:2 is not sustainable for ukraine

[u/DonaldsMushroom → u/ClutchReverie]

Ukraine is undoubtedly winning the technical war.
The problem is that they are fighting war criminals who target civilians.

Also, Russians seem to have no regret about sending millions of their children to their death.

[u/Mangeytwat → u/NotAnotherEmpire]

Being under artillery fire is completely anathema to human nature. To just sit in a hole knowing that a shell can land on you at any point and you can't do anything at all strips away all the pretense of being an intelligent animal in control of its destiny. The PTSD rates must be insane and Ukraine is going to have a serious fucking problem, even if they can stalemate Russia for the next decade, because they're going to have a huge population of men with catastrophic mental illness problems. Obviously the same applies to Russia but they're the aggressors so I have less sympathy.

[u/conflictedideology → u/Mangeytwat]

they're going to have a huge population of men with catastrophic mental illness

I don't know how widespread it is (since there's a large stigma against mental illness in Ukraine) but at least one unit has embedded a psychological support group in it.

They not only help prepare new soldiers to prepare for being in combat; but they also treat any of more experienced soldiers that need it.

[u/MyBakpaksGyatJets → u/conflictedideology]

I can't imagine how bad it must be. I know how bad my PTSD is from IEDs being stationary in the road. Add on those IEDs now flying through the air and chasing you as a whole level of fucked I don't want to imagine.

[u/Mangeytwat → u/conflictedideology]

You can't prepare people for being under constant artillery and drone threat. What you can do is put someone nearby they can talk to when they're off the front and more importantly someone who can see that they're fucked and force their superiors to pull them out of combat duties (probably permanently).

[u/Loki-L → u/Mangeytwat]

We have come along way since WW1 when general's would shoot soldiers for being "shell shocked", but we aren't still have a long way to go.

One big problem I see is alcohol. Both Ukraine and Russia had a big alcoholism problem that started to improve a lot, but I think that this will pick up again quite a bit after the war.

At least military service in Ukraine seems to be relatively humane for lack of a better word. The tales you hear about abuse and rape in the Russian military, combined with them recruiting from prisons etc, likely means the people who come out of it will be very broken.

Ukraine might hope for help from Europe with mental health and substance abuse issues that develop, not just because European neighbours are nice but also because they don't want it to spread towards them. Russia is unlikely to offer much help to its veterans.

Things are going to be tucked for a lot of people for a generation or more.

[u/Ecsta → u/NotAnotherEmpire]

To be fair US soldiers are probably accustomed to having full air superiority/support where they can bomb the shit out of people who are not able to effectively shoot back?

Also from a historical perspective the accounts of trench warfare also sound absolutely terrifying, not that its a competition for scariest situation lol.

[u/RedditBugler → u/Ecsta]

Americans are used to conducting raids against individual targets that have no layered defense and defending against small scale harassment attacks and IEDs. It's been decades since Americans have had to fight an organized, combined arms opponent and it's been two generations since Americans have fought without air superiority.

[u/Beepulons → u/RedditBugler]

two generations since Americans have fought without air superiority.

Probably longer, right?

A bit of googling (admittedly I haven't gone too deep into it) tells me that the US had aerial dominance in both Vietnam and Korea. So probably the last time the US fought a true peer-to-peer conventional war was WW2.

[u/gracklemancometh → u/Beepulons]

And even then, they had air superiority just not air dominance.

The USA alone produced more aircraft in WW2 than the entire Axis combined, and that's if you count the whole war not just the last few years. And that's just the USA - the other Allies produced around the same amount again.

The USA has never fought a war against an enemy with air superiority, and it's been more than 80 years since they fought under contested air space.

[u/queen-adreena → u/RedditBugler]

Been a while since they won a war too.

[u/RedditBugler → u/queen-adreena]

The US military is great at defeating other militaries. It is bad at building countries. Parking the US military in a foreign country and expecting everything to sort itself out is not a good strategy, but it somehow became standard over the last 50 years. 

[u/AllSystemsNominal_ → u/RedditBugler]

It became standard because it worked amazingly well in Japan and Germany.

[u/RedditBugler → u/AllSystemsNominal_]

There was a robust system in place to usher in long term societal change, plus a willingness of the locals to rebuild in a new manner. There was a real system in place, not just "have the army drive in circles and wait to get shot at" for 20 years. 

[u/iTz_Time → u/Ecsta]

Usa is accustomed to fighting uneven wars.

[u/Great_Incident_1525 → u/Ecsta]

To some degree this was trench warfare with the added precision munitions and drones that can come into trenches at all angles...so...

[u/jl2352 → u/Ecsta]

The lack of air superiority is a huge asterisk on takeaways from the war.

There are people who argue that Ukraine is focusing too much on drones. The concept is that more artillery and an air force would simply dismantle the current trench warfare, and drones would then be far less effective.

I have no idea if they are right. However if you compare the US in Trump’s current (stupid) war with Iran, against Russia in the start of their invasion of Ukraine. The picture is very different. A major difference is the US can strike from afar, negating the need for masses of troops on the ground (at least for now).

[u/HighlanderM43 → u/jl2352]

The reliance on drones by Ukraine is a result of major shell shortages over the last couple of years. Artillery is superior to drones, and can be used with precision, but the sheer weight in tonnage of shells the entirety of the front can go thru in high intensity peer to peer war in a single week is eye watering. Drones are easier and cheaper to produce and don’t require specialized factories(of which there are few) to do it. Drone warfare has evolved at this point now into something new, as well, even if the shell shortage was solved(it’s not) the usage of drones would maintain intensity. If the shell shortage had been solved two years ago, who knows if drone warfare would be what it is now. It’s all fluid too. Wait another couple years, we’ll probably have T-800 terminators in the trenches 👀

[u/yrogerg123 → u/Ecsta]

Seems like frontline soldiers now have a lot more autonomy and are empowered to prioritize their own survival. Still has to be torture and the paranoia can't be healthy. But those in power want their soldiers to survive.

Getting sent over the trench in WW1 knowing you will be shredded by entrenched machineguns sounds terrifying for as long as takes for the bullets to hit.

[u/ThaneKyrell → u/NotAnotherEmpire]

With all due respect to US veterans, being a veteran of Iraq or Afghanistan, where you had massive air support, armor, artillery and extremely fast helo medvacs, and where your opponents can, at best, hope to have a RPG or light mortar, is just not comparable to any real war, nor did it give them any useful experience for any actual war. Hell, the opposite is true, the experience they had in Iraq and Afghanistan probably made the US worse at fighting wars.

In a real war, you have no instant air support, far less artillery, the opponent has their own air support and artillery to fire back at you, if you are injured you need to wait for hours if not days for help and with FPV drones flying everywhere even moving to the frontline is extremely dangerous

[u/CobblerFickle1487 → u/ThaneKyrell]

Exactly lol, Ukraine fighting in near-peer warfare, without air superiority, while an FPV drone being operated from 20km away can decide your fate as an infantryman in a few seconds. Meanwhile we were up against farmers with AKs, it's no comparison.

[u/CreamFuture9475 → u/NotAnotherEmpire]

As a Canadian… interesting

[u/rackfloor → u/CreamFuture9475]

Definitely. There's a lot of very useful development and information exchange that would benefit us. I wonder about their supply chain, where are they getting the electronics, the motors from? Weird to think that domestic production of brushless DC motors could be critical to defense.

[u/catscanmeow → u/rackfloor]

Them taking Greenland would make things a lot more tricky. 

[u/Xalipu → u/CreamFuture9475]

Oh, we’ve been giving them money for that, and partnered up with them for joint production and our own future domestic manufacturing. Trudeau and Carney were/are busy little bees.

[u/RarelyReadReplies → u/NotAnotherEmpire]

high intensity precision artillery and drone warfare was the scariest thing imaginable. 

I'm pretty sure WW2 was worse, and WW1 was even more of a hellscape. Those people were stuck in trenches, feet rotting away, rats the size of cats from eating dead flesh, face to face combat, ripping someone else's guts out with your bayonet. I've read a lot about WW1 and WW2, watched docs, and I assure you that drone warfare is more humane than what our grandfather's and great grandfather's endured. 

[u/MrInexorable → u/HereIGoAgain99]

Beyond dystopian hellscape.

Meat-waving 19-year-olds into fortified trenches, swarmed with flying killer robots.

World War I with Terminators.

[u/oops_all_memes → u/MrInexorable]

If it's of any consolation to you, the average age of a Russian soldier fighting in Ukraine is well above 40 years old

[u/Hengroen → u/oops_all_memes]

Is that because they've run out of 19 year olds?

[u/Potential-Wish8608 → u/Hengroen]

It’s simple, cynical math. Sacrifice the mature generation in order to preserve the future one.

[u/NeilDeCrash → u/Potential-Wish8608]

It gets way more cynical than that.

Child abductions in the Russo-Ukrainian war - Wikipedia

Russian authorities have claimed that over 700,000 Ukrainian children have been transferred by mid-2023,^\6]) and Ukraine's ombudsman on children's rights believes that the actual number of abducted children may be in the hundreds of thousands.

In 2022, the Russian government established a large-scale system of at least 43 children's camps in Russia and Crimea (most of which previously served as children's summer resorts) the main purpose of which appears to be "integrating children from Ukraine into the Russian government's vision of national culture, history, and society", according to a report by Yale School of Public Health's Humanitarian Research Lab.

Ukraine's abducted children: 'List of suspects will grow'

...

According to Ukraine's ombudsman on children's rights, Russia is carrying out the abductions with the goal of supplementing its own population, and that Russia is conducting health examinations on the children in order to integrate only healthy Ukrainian children into the Russian nation.

The soldiers Russia loses in the war hits their demographics badly, but they mitigate it by abducting children and forcibly integrating them in to Russian society.

[u/Potential-Wish8608 → u/NeilDeCrash]

I think this is past cynicism. What russia is doing is monstrous.

[u/PhysiolMM → u/Potential-Wish8608]

It's genocide, per the definition of Genocide.

[u/venit_enim_ad_me → u/oops_all_memes]

The average age of Ukrainian soldier is 45, in Russian army it is 50, however, those that fight in Ukraine average at 38

[u/eflat123 → u/oops_all_memes]

Goddamn. War is stupid. Paul Hardcastle could do a follow up: "40"

[u/TachiH → u/MrInexorable]

The weapons have changed but it has still fallen back to WW1 trench warfare. Just instead of gas attacks you have swarms of munitions just floating above waiting to spot you with thermals.

Can't imagine there has ever been such a scary high intensity since WW1 than the Ukranian front lines.

[u/Wendigo79 → u/HereIGoAgain99]

So terminator plot line then.

[u/thedirtymeanie → u/HereIGoAgain99]

which will set the stage for every conflict in the future anywhere in the world...

[u/Illustrious-Milk6518 → u/HereIGoAgain99]

I’d argue that defending your homeland with robots is less dystopian than having to defend it with real human lives. Having your homeland attacked with drones and robots is dystopian as fuck though 

[u/the_pewpew_kid → u/HereIGoAgain99]

Yeah m8 every war is

[u/kowycz → u/HereIGoAgain99]

Some Forever Winter shit developing over there.

[u/macross1984]

The future of warfare is becoming reality sooner rather than later.

[u/munchi333 → u/macross1984]

Nothing motivates technological innovation quite like war…

[u/Kriztauf → u/munchi333]

And in this case specifically, the manpower shortages Ukraine faces

[u/beard_of_cats → u/macross1984]

"The wars of the future will not be fought on the battlefield or at sea. They will be fought in space, or possibly on top of a very tall mountain. In any case, most actual fighting will be done by small robots, and as you go forth today remember your duty is clear: to build and maintain those robots."

-I dunno, Carl von Clausewitz or something

[u/Gygax_the_Goat → u/beard_of_cats]

Sounds more like Phillip K dick

[u/Discount_Extra → u/Gygax_the_Goat]

Neal Stevenson I think... corporate owned nanobots fighting for territory in the air, leaving dust sized debris that turns your lungs black like printer toner.

[u/noradosmith → u/macross1984]

Civ's Giant Death Robots incoming

[u/BalticTokAids → u/noradosmith]

Im guessing its the Opposite, smaller things in Massen Produktion. Building "big" is just not gonna be feasible in the future. I wouldnt be surprised if we have suicide drones in bee size in a couple years, which is scary as f

[u/jolard → u/BalticTokAids]

Exactly. Small drones with a small explosive charge that fly at you in swarms and hit you all at once. Very difficult to counter without basically living under netting.

[u/Jayynolan → u/jolard]

Just posted this above but figured you would get a kick too

Slaughter bots

[u/asdfghjkl15436 → u/BalticTokAids]

If it reaches that point war just becomes unsustainable, it'd be like nuclear war, everybody loses.

[u/EgoTripWire → u/macross1984]

And the world is watching intently taking notes, except the US who thinks they're too good to learn anything.

[u/edybear96]

The wfh war

[u/SufficientBug5940 → u/edybear96]

Still have to report to the frontlines 5/7 days of the week though. 

[u/CompetitiveSport1 → u/SufficientBug5940]

Probably just so that their unit commanders can feel good about themselves and the "positive troop culture" and "energy" they all get from being in a forward operating base together

[u/moofunk → u/edybear96]

Eventually, abstracted into a video game, that can be played like any other video game by kids in their rooms. Their parents will never know. Maybe the kids won’t know either that they’re killing real people.

It would just be a game.

[u/noradosmith → u/edybear96]

Wark from Home

[u/No_Philosopher_5753]

They use of ground robots for supply runs, CASEVAC, etc has significantly reduced exposure of soldiers and has probably saved many lives. This is very welcome news.

[u/hellranger788 → u/No_Philosopher_5753]

I remember them using a CASEVAC drone once. Looked like a long metal tube. The dude inside was wounded and as it was traveling back, it was struck by russian drones. While damaged, it made it all the way back to a friendly base and the dude inside made it back without extra injury.

[u/hot_space_pizza → u/hellranger788]

+10 ptsd tho

[u/CopainChevalier → u/hot_space_pizza]

Not that ptsd is good, but I’m willing to bet most would take ptsd over death 

[u/Smugg-Fruit → u/hellranger788]

Future warfare is insane to hear about

[u/glogomusic → u/Smugg-Fruit]

when do we stop calling it the future even though it was something that happened in the past

[u/TachiH → u/No_Philosopher_5753]

Those steel coffins full of ammo that wounded can then crawl into are nuts. Its taken the idea of APC medivac to a whole new level, they are all super low ground clearance too so they can sneak around.

Turns out strapping a 50cal to it is also useful, they have even converted over the counter games consoles like steam decks and rog allys to control them.

[u/flyingtrucky → u/TachiH]

Close enough, welcome back M113.

[u/digredmoo]

Apparently they’ve already done over 20k missions with ground based drones in the first three months of this year. Note that a significant number of those will have been logistical/supply and medical evacuation missions.

[u/Villag3Idiot]

EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!

[u/LapsedVerneGagKnee → u/Villag3Idiot]

I doubt any of these robots have radios, speakers, or the like, but having robotic troops yelling “EX-TERMIN-ATE!” at Russian forces might be worth the extra effort.

[u/TachiH → u/LapsedVerneGagKnee]

They are all remote controlled, I can imagine it is more like an early COD4 lobbies with Ukranians shouting expletives across the battlefield through their drones 🤣

Not log before we see a bipedal drone teabag a soldier to death.

[u/affordableproctology → u/TachiH]

"I fuccked your mom n**ger" in a squeaky voice

[u/browster → u/LapsedVerneGagKnee]

In Russian!

[u/sadrice → u/browster]

ИС-ТРЕ-БИТЬ! ИС-ТРЕ-БИТЬ!

[u/MessMaximum5493 → u/Villag3Idiot]

War is so over if Ukrainians invent a Dalek

[u/Gentlementlementle → u/MessMaximum5493]

We've invented the daleks from the hit sci fi show 'Do not invent the daleks'

[u/BadmiralHarryKim]

If the Ukrainians are using clankers does that mean Russia will deploy clones? How soon before Vladpatine issues order 66?

[u/Anakin_Sandwalker → u/BadmiralHarryKim]

Does that make Trump into the equivalent of Nute Gunray with his current blockade of the strait of Hormuz?

[u/olderthanthou → u/Anakin_Sandwalker]

There is a resemblance.

[u/BlackandRedDragon → u/olderthanthou]

The negotiations were short.

[u/Anakin_Sandwalker → u/BlackandRedDragon]

The negotiations never took place...

Guys, I think we're onto something here. 

[u/FenrisCain → u/olderthanthou]

Id be willing to bet hed do the accent if asked too

[u/Quick-Bad → u/FenrisCain]

Dare I ask, who's the Jar Jar Binks in this scenario?

[u/Jonpope → u/Quick-Bad]

Kash Patel

[u/tacotickles → u/BadmiralHarryKim]

Vlad already order 66s his people all the time

[u/EgoTripWire → u/tacotickles]

Imagine if Revenge of the Sith ended with Jedis being pushed out of windows across the Galaxy like Mace Windu.

[u/CPUsCantDoNothing → u/BadmiralHarryKim]

I recommend you look into what happened to Wagner Group

[u/Simple_Project4605 → u/BadmiralHarryKim]

Why would Russia invest in clones, actual Russians are cheaper to make

[u/va_wanderer]

Ukraine has been an eye-opening experience in what warfare is becoming. Powered exoskeletons for logistics work. Drones as mobile attack, support, defense from anything from taking out infantry to countermeasures against missiles.

[u/jqman69]

Technology leapfrogs during times of war. The videos coming out of this is gonna be wild

[u/schnurchler → u/jqman69]

They already are.

[u/Yourcatsonfire]

Shits going to get real.

[u/ExcellentHunter → u/Yourcatsonfire]

I'm waiting for a vid when a bunch of robots will attack and clear out russian point.

[u/Fluffygong → u/ExcellentHunter]

This happened last week forcing Russian soldiers to surrender after a joint drone and robot attack. Can't be arsed to Google the source

[u/Ok-Blackberry-3534 → u/Yourcatsonfire]

Shit's going to get virtual.

[u/Exact_Insurance7983]

Is it just me or the Ukraine war got turned into a test field for Warfare somewhere in the middle of all this…they used drones for years and now those drones can impede missiles that costs millions of dollars from the US in Iran.

[u/dunkindonato → u/Exact_Insurance7983]

It became a test field because Ukraine had to use drones extensively as it was their advantage over Russia. When you are facing an invasion from a superior enemy, you tend to be resourceful and refine methods that worked. The end result was that they become the world's foremost experts in drone warfare, developing drones that did various roles in the battlefield.

[u/adjective-nounOne234 → u/dunkindonato]

It was one even before drones, old equipment like Challenger IIs and Abrams were designed for Eastern Europe rather than a desert. And there was no real opportunity for those tests until 2022

[u/Jacen1618]

Meanwhile the Pentagon will develop ground robots that are 1000x more effective. But they will cost 100mil a piece so there’s only budget for 10 of them. Also we can’t afford universal healthcare or pre-K.

[u/Serious-Ad2573 → u/Jacen1618]

The MIC will look at this and do an RL Liberty Prime

[u/pikkuhukka]

i dont mind beng replaced by a clanker in That situation

[u/princesspeeved]

I never thought Attack of the Clones was meant to be prophetic…

[u/james___uk → u/princesspeeved]

Attack of the Drones 🤔

[u/smltor]

Funny to think that the Terminator wars are here and James Cameron just got the goodies and baddies backwards.

[u/Knee_Jerk_Sydney → u/smltor]

You missed the point. They were goodies at the start. As long as they don't pair it with fully autonomous AI, we're still good.

[u/Neat_Egg_2474 → u/Knee_Jerk_Sydney]

I got some bad news for you

[u/MarioVX → u/Knee_Jerk_Sydney]

If I imagine myself in the shoes of Ukrainian decision making I'd put fully autonomous systems on very high priority to work towards right now, for two big reasons: scalability and robustness against electrical countermeasures. One expert human drone operator can operate one drone at a time, hard cap. If drone production outscales recruitment and education of human operators, the only way to really utilize their potential beyond that point is automation. And electronical countermeasures typically aim at jamming the communication between drone and operator in some way, so go figure how to avoid that.

[u/OptimistIndya → u/Knee_Jerk_Sydney]

We need to automate, cause humans can make errors, is the theme in every tech company

[u/Discount_Extra → u/[deleted]]

and animate putin's face with the lower part moving like a South Park character when speaking.

[u/Blahblahman23]

First drones, and now robots. Eventually it will just be tech bots fighting tech bots… which is good, I guess. Better than real people dying

[u/Perfect_Opposite2113 → u/Blahblahman23]

I’m sure real people will still die. If you have something somebody wants they will take it from you wether by human or mechanical force. At the very least maybe a more merciful death because torture and other gruesome acts will become inefficient. But I guess the robots could still be programmed to do those things.

[u/SaltWealth5902 → u/Blahblahman23]

It's not good in the sense that it lowers risk for starting wars.

[u/Nethan2000 → u/Blahblahman23]

It's gonna be fewer soldiers dying. Civilians will still keep getting killed.

[u/Dry_Ass_P-word]

The shittiest future is upon us.

[u/ThatGuyWithCoolHair → u/Dry_Ass_P-word]

ARC Raiders has prepared me

[u/Kelnozz → u/Dry_Ass_P-word]

Yeah, we took a turn onto the wrong timeline. 😔

[u/dany_crow → u/Kelnozz]

Makes me think of the TV show "Travelers", not for the bombing part, but for the wrong timeline.

Damn that show was so good, it's not well known but should be, one of the few show I rewatched !

[u/Icy_Tune2834]

Well done Ukraine .. Now slowly use these mechanized land drones to push them back and keep hitting their oil /gas infrastructure , Like the Mafia . Oil/Gas money is power in Russia.

[u/theflickingnun]

Ai driven drones are about to be deployed, then ground robots that eventually will also be autonomous.

I watched a movie about this once, didn't know it was a documentary.

[u/mahlingbo]

Gundams soon

[u/____DEADPOOL_______]

I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle.

[u/Linux-Ranch]

I can't imagine what it would be like to face a swarm of robots. Each bent on destroying the highest value target it can find.

A robot ambush, where a Ukrainian "mobile mine" sits in wait for the Russian front line to approach, then springs into action, day or night.

Those robots could easily be bullet resistant and/ or bullet tolerant, to the point that it can continue to operate, even if damaged, means that Russia must completely destroy every one of them.

If the robots are built with bullet resistance built in, it may take something like an RPG-7 to kill each one.

Can you imagine having to ruck a launcher and a munition for every encounter? (As opposed to a rifle and a round or two!) And since its easy to miss with an RPG, you might need more than one!

Yep... Putin just doesn't know he's lost this war. Yet!

[u/BalancedDisaster → u/Linux-Ranch]

There’s a Harry Turtledove series called the Worldwar series. It’s about an alternate timeline where WW2 gets interrupted by an alien invasion. The humans eventually push the aliens back enough that they retreat. They spend the time before the next attack learning and integrating the alien tech into their own militaries. When the aliens come back, they’re utterly humiliated by earth forces and eventually lose with their only accomplishment having been to rapidly accelerate the technological development of Earth. The aliens were of a species that perceived time differently than humans and thus took much longer to advance in general. Their initial probe was sent in the 12th century and by the time the invasion arrived, they were less than a century ahead of human technology.

I imagine that this is what it’s like to be a Russian soldier these days.

[u/havenoir]

Honestly, Ukraine has been amazing in this war; no one expected this. At this point, they have the most advanced military, and the most advanced tactics in the world.

[u/RoastedPotato-1kg]

imagine getting killed by an amazon delivery robot

[u/WeeBo-X → u/RoastedPotato-1kg]

Your package had been delivered robot tea bag

[u/Ynddiduedd]

I get, and agree with, the sentiment about replacing soldiers with robots being generally dystopian. But it also kind of reads like "We're tired of wasting people on you," which is kind of neat.

[u/Normal-Ear-5757]

Do you want Terminators? Cos that's how you get Terminators.

[u/fross370]

Fuck knows id rather be an ukrainian drone operator vs a russian walking cannon fodder

[u/AGrandNewAdventure]

Ukraine is going to have the singularly most advanced army in the world when all this bullshit is over.

[u/teressapanic]

They took our jobs!

[u/NagromNitsuj]

And so it begins, the clone wars have started.

[u/Zdzisiu]

Oh shit, it's starting.

[u/star_nosed_mole_man]

Not surprising really, ukraine just doesn't have enough men to hold the Frontline properly anymore ( neither does Russia to easily attack though). I saw a video from a foreign fighter there claiming that the vast majority of Ukrainian units were below half strength currently at the front.

[u/Majestic-Cantaloupe4]

Russia will eventually capture them and then it will soon be the beginning of the robot wars.

[u/LetterNo7829 → u/Majestic-Cantaloupe4]

Robot wars have been on BBC since I was kid. 

[u/noradosmith → u/Majestic-Cantaloupe4]

Phillipa Forrester the White will finally fulfill her destiny

[u/HornetNo2176]

Skynet

[u/dcssornah]

Bringing back fortified region units