Operator with Lyut ("Fury") Uncrewed Ground Vehicle armed with PKY machineguin
A new video gives one of the first glimpses of Ukrainian combat robot in action. Remote-controlled robots, known as Uncrewed Ground Vehicles or UGVs have previously been seen in kamikaze attacks and minelaying. Now armed UGVs are starting to take a place on the front line not just alongside human soldiers but ahead of them.
In the video, posted by a drone team of the 8th Separate Special Operations Regiment, the little robot leads a successful assault against a Russian position. While the result is not quite like a Terminator movie, it gives an idea of the strengths and limitations of these new machines and why the Russians are so scared of them.
Uncrewed Fighting Machines
Remote-controlled vehicles have a long but not very distinguished history. The Soviets deployed Teletanks in their 1940 invasion of Finland. These were obsolete light tanks fitted with flamethrowers or machineguns, but with no video camera so the operator had to control them from within line of sight. They were supposed to be able to get close to heavily defended positions too dangerous for tanks to attack, but were clumsy and unreliable.
More recently the Russians fielded Uran-9 robot tanks in Syria, but these were not effective with problems including unreliable communications and they have not been seen in Ukraine.
Uran-9 robotic combat vehicles in Red Square in Moscow,
This conflict has seen a large number of UGVs assembled by garage inventors and tech startups . The small, low-cost vehicles have been valuable for last-mile logistics, mine clearance and minelaying, and also for kamikaze attacks carrying anti-tank mines or other large explosives. Several vehicles fitted with machine guns and other weapons have been displayed, but there is little indication of their being used in combat.
In March Russian forces carried out an attack with several small UGVs carrying grenade launchers. All were quickly destroyed by Ukrainian FPV drones.
Ukraine has given considerable publicity to its army of ground robots which are now going into mass production. Now we are seeing how they perform on the ground.
Leading The Assault
The two-minute drone video is not easy to follow, with sudden cuts and images which can be hard to decipher. The opening shots show Russian soldiers on foot, occupying what looks like a defensive position concealed in vegetation at a road junction.
At 0:18 we see a small, four-wheeled robot heading down the road towards the Russian position. This is a Lyut 2.0 UGV, as demonstrated in a previous video from (possible the same) Ukrainian Special Forces unit. The Lyut (“Fury”) is describes as a 300-kilo/660-pound vehicle, armed with a PKT machinegun able to fire with extreme accuracy at ranges of 100 meters.
Much of that weight is likely steel plate. The Lyut is reportedly heavily armored and protected against small arms fire with “Class IV Armor” able to stop anything short of armor-piercing ammo. Development started in 2022 and the current version was released earlier this year.
The Lyut UGV simply drives over two rows of Russian anti-tank mines.
At 0:27 the robot approaches rows of anti-tank mines laid across the road. In an audacious move, the operator simply drives right over them.
While most anti-tank mines rely on a pressure plate, many also have a magnetic influence fuse; known as ‘full-width’ mines these will be triggered by a vehicle driving over them even if there is no contact. Luckily these mines do not have magnetic fuses and the robot goes over two of them unharmed. This must have been alarming for the defenders.
A direct hit from an RPG anti-tank rocket
At 0:33 we see what looks like a rocket-propelled grenade fired from the Russian positions, less than fifty yards ahead. There is an explosion at the front of the UGV, leaving a mark on the road, and the robot retreats to the side of the road. A second and a third rocket are fired at the UGV, while what looks like mortar fire starts
The hit has no obvious effect on the small UGV
landing around the Russian positions.
At 0:42 the UGV may be firing back, but this is not clear.
The UGV is likely also engaged by small arms fire but this is also not visible. Unlike a soldier it cannot take cover or adopt a defensive position, and the operator clearly does not want to risk getting closer.
By 1:12 the UGV, has moved a few yards from its previous position. Clearly it is still operational, whether or not not it can still fire. At 1:13 and 1:19 there are two more explosions in front of and behind the UGV. Some commenters believe that one or more FPV drones may have been used but this is not clear from the video.
At 1:51 there is an explosion within the Russian position, followed by at least three Russian soldiers abandoning their trenches and running away down the road, and the video ends.
A Modern War Elephant, Or More?
The full sequence of events here is not clear. We do not know how effective the UGV was, whether it caused any casualties, or whether it survived the encounter. Claims that it survived and is being repaired may be accurate, but cannot be verified.
What we do know is that the Russians were forced to abandon their position in the face of an enemy assault. No Ukrainian infantry are seen. It looks like the UGV carried out the attack on its own with support from mortars and possibly other weapons. There may have been simultaneous strikes with FPVs against the Russians as they attempted to fight the robot.
This type of assault would previously have been executed by soldiers on foot, as RPGs and other weapons would have hit any approaching vehicle. Casualties would be likely.
Even if the Lyut was badly damaged or destroyed, the operation was clearly a success. The Russian position was taken with zero casualties. At a cost of around $16,000 per unit – as much as six artillery rounds, or a tenth of a Javelin missile — the Lyut is entirely expendable.
Seen in an earlier video, this may be the UGV used in the attack
The combat UGV might be the modern equivalent war elephant in classical armies : a strange, terrifying presence which causes enemies to flee even though it has limited military effectiveness. A fighting robot is inherently scary. Robot dogs with weapons will be even worse, even if they are clumsier and less capable than human footsoldiers. An opponent that feels no pain or fear, and who is immune to gunfire, is not like one made of flesh and blood.
But the UGV may be much more than an effective psychological weapon. Unlike aerial drones, the UGV can threaten an enemy position. Driving up and parking a remote-controlled machinegun turret next to defenders force them to either destroy the UGV or retreat. That makes this type of robot something quite new, an uncrewed weapon able to take ground, and potentially to hold that ground.
Lyut is not Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800, striding through a minefield and picking off opponents with deadly accuracy while bullets ping off its armored exterior. But the video suggests it is early version of a very useful capability, one that could shift the burden of fighting from humans to machines. You would not want to be on the other side.
