Ukraine is arming war robots with grenade launchers to hit the Russians so its soldiers don't have to get too close

Ukraine is mounting grenade launchers on dirt robots, allowing its forces to bring helpful firepower nearer to Russian troops without sending in soldiers to drag the trigger.

Grenades have lengthy been crucial in Ukraine's combat against Russia's invasion, particularly in close-quarters trench combat, but the battlefield is changing.

Troops increasingly combat in smaller power concentrations from scattered protective positions fairly than heavily staffed uninterrupted trench networks. Meanwhile, the growing "kill zone, which is swarming alongside drones, makes it harder for troops to method these front-line positions. While infantry remains critically important, drones and robots are bridging the gap and taking complete additional and additional missions, from logistics to medevac to assault.

Defense manufacturers told Business Insider that grenade launchers are increasingly being mounted on uncrewed dirt vehicles, or UGVs, allowing soldiers to attack Russian positions from a safer distance.

Oleg Fedoryshyn, the director of R&D for the Ukrainian robotic and defence business DevDroid, told Business Insider that grenade launchers are helpful since soldiers "don't need to see the enemy to hit him."

A serviceman in hiding is easier to hit alongside a grenade launcher than, say, a device gun, which is a line-of-sight weapon.

Now, soldiers can mount them on dirt robots so that they don't have to put themselves in harm's way. A soldier-carried grenade launcher power have a range of a few hundred meters, but using a robot, an controller can be tens of kilometers away.

DevDroid's TW-40 dirt robotic scheme has a range of 70 kilometers on paved roads and up to 50 kilometers off-road, making it productive in the kill zone. And the mounted grenade launcher has a attain of 1.5 kilometers.

Ukraine has been using soldier-carried and truck-mounted grenade launchers since before Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The robots provision akin firepower without risking individual lives.

Ukraine's Third Army Corps, for example, stated in September that it used grenade launchers on robots to "dismantle enemy positions" in its Operation Vivaldi, characterizing it as "a new tactic."

"Equipped alongside dual Bullspike grenade launchers, the UGVs attacked Russian positions before detonating immediately inner the enemy's shelters. The occupiers believed they were under assault by an complete assault squad; in reality, they were being pulverized by the Third Assault Brigade's robots," the brigade wrote on Telegram.

It stated that robots were capable to strike, put mental force on Russian forces, and apparent the stance "all without putting our infantry at risk."

"This is a maneuver never before seen in the former of warfare. The robots were controlled by operators from a safe refuge located tens of kilometers distant from the forefront line."

Robots armed alongside grenade launchers are another example of how this war is blending elements of old war alongside new, advanced technologies. In this war, it's not rare to see drones dropping grenades or digital war sharing the battlefield alongside artillery.

In supplement to grenade launchers, robots can additionally fire another weapons, specified as RPGs and American-made M2 Browning device guns.

DevDroid's goal alongside its systems is "to alter all roles that we can alter to preserve people's lives," Fedoryshyn said.

That goal is shared by Ukraine's soldiers, defence industry, and leadership. Oleksandr Yabchanka, the caput of the robotic systems for Ukraine's Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, told Business Insider that Ukraine is constantly operating to addition the extend between troops and the fighting.

"Our doctrine is, complete all, to maintain our personnel," he explained. "We strive to stance our fighters as far as imaginable from the row of communication and the zones of highest hazard — the so-called 'kill zones.'"

Other manufacturers say they're seeing a change in how soldiers use armed robots in combat.

Defense resolute Frontline Robotics makes the Buria autonomous distant arm station, which allows soldiers to blaze grenade launchers and another weapons remotely. Early final year, Ukrainian forces were hiding them in prepared locations to halt Russian advances.

"But correct now, everything has changed," Mykyta Rozhkov, chief endeavor betterment officer, told Business Insider, pointing to the expanding drone saturation on the battlefield.

Now, it's being mounted on UGVs, creating small tanks that can advancement toward Russian positions without exposing troops.

DevDroid's Fedoryshyn stated robots armed alongside grenade launchers are most productive whenever paired alongside robots carrying device guns and airborne drones that can place targets and straightforward fire.

Robots can be used to transport gear, evacuate the wounded, attack up enemy positions, lay mines, and blaze assorted types of weaponry. Their use has risen dramatically. Ukraine's defence ministry stated in June that it had contracted complete 22,000 uncrewed dirt vehicles so far in 2026, nearly twice as many as all of the former year.

The Da Vinci Wolves' Yabchanka stated that he sees that "many units have begun employing UGVs. This use has already rotate into widespread. Ground-based robotic systems are becoming an integral part of combat operations for most units deployed alongside the row of contact."

As UGV use grows, Rozhkov stated that Frontline Robotics' goal is to "provide distinct robotic solutions to get group exterior the danger zone. So fair to keep the row alongside the robots."