Next round in the robot war. Ukraine reports success with ground robots: “Fury” is said to have already done Kiev’s troops a good service.
Volfino – “Part of the enemy was destroyed, the rest fled,” wrote the 1st Division of the 8th Special Regiment of the Army of Ukraine on social media. The message was sent as a result of the use of “Fury”. The magazine is currently reporting Forbes about the results achieved by the four-wheeled machine gun against Vladimir Putin’s invading troops. The robot was hit by several rocket-propelled grenades and first-person view drones, “but it held out, completed the mission and returned to recovery,” its operators reported. The Terminator War is apparently entering its next round.
Fury is the name of a wheeled ground robot with a machine gun as a superstructure; engineers have probably put it on wheels within the last 30 months. A development that coincided with the outbreak of the war against Russia. However, there are no sources as to whether Ukraine had already been researching it or whether it was rushing it to the front at a rapid pace. The robot last appeared in the media at the end of August and may even have changed its name at the time when rumors about its readiness for series production were intensifying.
Offensive with “anger”: Robots cause losses to Russia
“Lyut” was already made public last October and was due to undergo its baptism of fire under the name “Rage 2.0” after apparently successful field tests. The Azov Brigade was named as the main user; they wanted to use the robot for reconnaissance and fire support. According to the news agency Ukrainian National News The robot has a machine gun, a range of 20 kilometers, three days of autonomous operation and a high level of protection against fire. Now it seems to have actually completed its first front-line deployment. Apparently successfully.
“A fighting robot is inherently terrifying. An opponent that feels neither pain nor fear and is immune to gunfire is not like an opponent made of flesh and blood.”
In a combined offensive near Kursk, he is said to have routed “a small group of Russian soldiers” using explosive device drones and mortars – but this cannot be independently verified. The battle took place in the Russian village of Volfino, near the border in the Kursk region, into which Ukraine had invaded and where it is now trying to expand and thereby secure the territory it has gained in a further offensive.
The robot Rage or Fury enables the military to repel enemy attacks while the operators or the infantry remain in cover, according to the magazine Defense Express reported. It can also be used defensively as a mobile firing post that maneuvers around positions, fires from multiple locations, or serves as an observation post. The manufacturer has long since secured investments, received a government contract, and increased production, writes the magazine Defense Express.
“Unleash your anger”: Ukraine donates for small robot army
However, Fury also rolls out with the help of crowdfunding: Under the slogan “Unleash your rage,” the government-affiliated organization United24 is collecting donations online to mobilize an army of Fury clones. A Fury costs 16,000 US dollars, or around 14,400 euros. In addition to building a Fury, the money will go into a raffle in which the first prize is a Ukrainian flag signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Larger sums mean a bigger reward, as United24 writes: “Anyone who donates $1,000 or more will become a Fellas Fury Platoon Leader, which means we make a video of you operating a virtual robot and write your name on the real one!” The company is currently trying to raise $160,000 to send ten more robots to the front, as can be seen on their X-channel (formerly Twitter).
Crowdfunding offensive against Putin: Ukraine collects millions for the war
Runar Spansvoll calls it “a people’s war in the digital age.” The Norwegian army officer has researched that national and international individuals have so far donated 415 million US dollars – the equivalent of 372 million euros – to the Ukrainian central bank. “Yet many contributions take a different route and bypass centralized systems, such as Ukraine’s official fundraising platform United24 (which had raised around 600 million US dollars – 537 million euros – by February 2024), by going directly to the intended end users,” writes the author from the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
According to Spansvoll, almost 80 percent of adult Ukrainians have donated to the war effort so far. The extent of drone use is increasing accordingly. Spansvoll cites RUSI authors Jack Watling and Nick Reynolds, according to whom – at least in the second year of the war – at any given time, between 25 and 50 UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) from both sides are operating per ten kilometers of front over the contested area between the front line of their own troops and the front line of the enemy troops.” Spansvoll adds this to 2,500 to 5,000 drones per 1,000 kilometers. In the air alone.
“Year of drones”: Ukraine wants to minimize losses of forces
Fury proves that this trend could continue on the ground. Or rather: will continue. Defense Express reports that this year alone, Ukraine has already approved “ten types of domestically produced robotic systems for use in the armed forces.” This was published by the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. Oleksandr Kamyshin puts it even more offensively: The head of Ukraine’s strategic industries declared 2024 to be the “year of land systems” as his country sends more drones to the battlefield, the magazine Defense News reported.
The main aim of Ukraine is to gradually remove its fighters from the front lines and free them from tasks that can be carried out just as well or even better by automation. These include transporting the wounded, reconnaissance missions and covering fire.
Topography favourable: Terminator war in Ukraine conceivable
“The topography in parts of Ukraine with a lot of flat and sparsely vegetated areas seems to me, unlike urban terrain, to be more favorable for the use of such drones,” says Frank Sauer. The news magazine Mirror soberly: “Basically, these cars are nothing more than remote-controlled model cars with a camera.”
The armies are still a long way from the war of the Terminators. At least that is what Johann Frank told the Austrian standard claims: “But of course there is a difference between just developing prototypes and integrating modern technologies structurally into the organization. It takes at least ten to 15 years until a developed and tested system is introduced,” said the major general from the Austrian Institute for Peacekeeping and Conflict Management.
Sauer may have misjudged the situation. But perhaps the current successes of the Ukrainian robots are being overestimated and dramatized in the media. ForbesAuthor David Axe weighs up the issue as well as glorifies it. He stylizes the combat UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) as the modern equivalent of the war elephant in classic armies, as he writes: “a strange, terrifying presence that puts enemies to flight, although it has only limited militarily effectiveness. A combat robot is inherently terrifying. An opponent who feels neither pain nor fear and is immune to gunfire is not like a flesh-and-blood opponent.”
#Robot #Fury #puts #Russian #soldiers #flight
