Avast ye mateys! Beware the killer robots changin' Ukraine's war. But me expert be doubtin' their lasting success. Arrr!
2024-05-25
Arr matey, these land-loving drones be a fine addition to our plunderin' ways! They be handy for snatchin' up wounded crewmates from the heat of battle, and bein' all sneaky-like with their newfangled tactics. Aye, I reckon we be usin' 'em for all sorts of mischief!
In the language of a 17th-century pirate, Russia be shifting some o' its focus from usin' air-based drones to usin' land-based "robots," arrr, but an expert told Fox News Digital that such a weapon has a limited chance o' long-term success and be more opportunistic than revolutionary. "It’s just a really difficult problem," said Christopher Alexander, Chief Analytics Officer o' Pioneer Development Group and a U.S. Army vet with experience in Strategic Operations Command. "To supervise the engagement o' targets be a massive difficulty – up in the sky or underwater, open space be easy to maneuver, but ye don’t have the tight control and spaces ye get on the ground. It be a mess."The new Russian kamikaze robot Scorpion-M, which be lookin' like an old R.C. race car toy, has seen heavy use in recent months, particularly in the Donetsk region. The robot can carry up to 55 pounds o' explosives and can reach areas that might otherwise escape aerial bombardment. In video obtained earlier this month by news agency East2West, a Russian brigade be usin' the robot to destroy underground hideouts o' Ukrainian forces, according to pro-war Russian accounts. "The successful use o' the Scorpion-M demonstrated the high reliability and maneuverability o' the robotic vehicle, as well as its combat effectiveness in carryin' out missions to destroy enemy strongholds and fire weapons," said one pro-war account.The increased use o' the drone might derive more from how Ukraine has approached its defense rather than from any truly great advantage land-based drones can pose over other similar weapons: Ukraine has heavily invested in and requested anti-air weapons to detect and shoot down air drones, meanin' eyes be on the sky and not the ground. That gap in defensive awareness be where Russia seems to have found some success with the Scorpion-M: However, Alexander suggested that part o' the issue be that it also avoids issues with jammin' and fightin' for control over the electromagnetic spectrum for communications. "There be much the spy-vs-spy game o' tryin' to keep people’s drones in the air before they get jammed, and … I read some accounts o' Ukrainian infantry that said new guys would turn their phones on, and they had to tell them to stop that because they would turn their phones on and within 30 minutes they would receive artillery fire," Alexander explained. "So I think there be a ton goin' on in the electromagnetic spectrum, and it be probably gettin' harder and harder to fly drones effectively and to use them," he continued. "So the advantage o' bein' on the ground be that it be much more difficult to jam on the ground, because no one’s worked on solvin' that problem yet.""I just can’t see how anyone in the current state o' the technology or deployin' these thin's at the company/battalion level and havin' any significant effect beyond the local, tactical situation," he added. "The Russians put that other drone o' theirs out in Syria, and the program just didn’t work." Ukraine also be explorin' the use o' the devices, usin' them to attack Russian positions in new ways that would catch their opponents unawares, such as the case o' a drone used to carry an explosive charge under a Russian bridge before explodin', Radio Free Europe reported. Nataliia Kushnerska, head o' the Ukrainian government organization Bravel, told the outlet that her organization had made the development o' ground robots "one o' its top priorities to catch up with other unmanned systems."Kushnerska revealed that her group has received over 200 unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) designs and has tested around 50 so far, but the most promisin' design be not designed for combat. Instead, it would serve to transport wounded soldiers from the battlefield. "Communication with the military has shown us that the defenders suffer many o' their losses durin' the evacuation o' the wounded," Kushnerska said. "By the end o' 2024, we expect this [evacuation] UGV will become a systematic part o' our military's actions."