Land, Sea, and Air Automation? Visiting Ukraine's "Unmanned Weapons" Factory

Recently, Western journalists visited a Ukrainian "unmanned weapon" factory, revealing that the Ukrainian military is actively advancing battlefield automation capabilities through unmanned combat systems across land, sea, and air dimensions. Analysts state that unmanned systems have irreversibly changed the battlefield.

The Ukrainian military has developed unmanned ground vehicles capable of carrying approximately 20 kilograms of explosives.

In a workshop near the front lines in northeastern Ukraine, military mechanics are preparing combat robots. These unmanned ground vehicles, known as "Hyenas," will carry about 40 pounds of explosives to crawl towards enemy positions, launching surprise attacks on enemy shelters or hindering their advance.

It is reported that such workshops established by the Ukrainian Third Corps are spread along the 745-mile-long Russia-Ukraine front line, used for developing various experimental robots. Ground drones are a core component of Ukraine's "intelligent warfare." Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky, commander of the Ukrainian Third Corps, referred to the replacement of infantry with unmanned ground vehicles as the "next revolution in warfare," revealing plans to replace about one-third of frontline combat personnel with unmanned ground vehicles by the end of 2026.

Rand Corporation: The Ukrainian Armed Forces have gradually evolved into a "hybrid army."

On September 3, the Rand Corporation's website published a commentary article titled "Victory of Tomorrow and the Future Army: Predicting the Next Steps in Ukraine's Military Evolution," which analyzes the possible transformation paths of the Ukrainian military from four aspects: troop organization, training, recruitment, and equipment procurement, based on the premise that the Russia-Ukraine conflict will continue for the next two years with the intensity of fighting remaining largely unchanged.

The article argues that after more than four years of high-intensity warfare, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have gradually evolved into a "hybrid army" that integrates traditional formations, Western equipment, domestically produced weapons, and unmanned systems. Among them, unmanned systems have irreversibly changed the battlefield, liberating humans from a large number of high-risk tasks. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense stated that since the beginning of this year, unmanned ground vehicles have carried out over 50,000 logistics supply and casualty evacuation missions.

The Ukrainian military: domestically developed unmanned boats have long strike ranges and high hit rates.

Ground robots are just one aspect of Ukraine's unmanned combat system. Ukraine claims that in the Black Sea, its domestically developed "Pike" unmanned boats have become an important means to deter Russian maritime operations. With these unmanned boats, Ukraine can strike targets approximately 700 kilometers away.

Ukraine has manufactured various models of unmanned boats, equipping them with different weapons. One type can carry 10 drones, each capable of carrying about 2 kilograms of explosives. Additionally, there are 10 other models, including "suicide" unmanned boats designed to charge directly at targets and detonate. Ukrainian officials believe that unmanned boats have changed the balance of power on the Black Sea battlefield, shifting the situation in a direction more favorable to Ukraine.

Ukrainian private military enterprises are rapidly expanding, producing hundreds of drones daily.

In the core area of Ukraine's drone industry, the private military enterprise "Firepoint" is pushing this unmanned revolution deeper. CEO Irina Terekh admitted that the company's capacity expansion has exceeded her expectations.

Terekh stated that this year, Ukraine's deep strikes against Russia have been more extensive, including damaging at least 20 warehouses of Russia's largest online retailer, Wildberries, with nearly two-thirds of these deep strikes executed by Firepoint's weapons. The company has also developed the "Flamingo" cruise missile, which features a pink coating, a range of over 2,000 miles, and is twice the size of an American cruise missile.

Both Russia and Ukraine are continuously intensifying their technological competition.

From "Hyena" to "Pike" to "Flamingo," Ukraine is advancing warfare automation across land, sea, and air dimensions at low cost and high iteration speed. Analysts believe that the Russia-Ukraine war is driving the transition of army construction from "manned platform competition" to "manned-unmanned system competition." In this conflict, the balance of power is changing rapidly, and both sides are engaged in a relentless technological race.

Source: CCTV4 "Today Asia"