Month: April 2026

In 2007, at a military range in South Africa, an automatic anti-aircraft gun Oerlikon GDF-005 got out of control during an exercise and opened fire without human intervention, causing several victims before being arrested. That incident, investigated for years, is often remembered because left a lesson disturbing about what can happen when machines begin to act in combat environments. That scenario is already happening in Ukraine. The first position captured without humans. In the words of ukrainian president himself several hours ago, the war in the country has crossed an unprecedented border: for the first time in history, a Russian position was taken without the direct intervention of soldiersonly through aerial drones and ground robots. The operation, which ended with the surrender of Russian troops, left no casualties on the Ukrainian side and marked a milestone that until recently belonged more to science fiction than military reality. Here names appear like TerMIT, Ratel, Ardal, Lynx or Volya, “soldiers” who are no longer prototypes, but protagonists of a new way of fighting where machines execute complete missions. The event. The Zelensky’s statement has not been independently verified, but was accompanied by a promotional video in which he described that Ukrainian military robots had completed more than 22,000 missions in the last three months. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry also recently reported a three-fold increase in the Ukrainian military’s unmanned ground vehicle missions over the past five months, with more than 9,000 robotic missions carried out in March, according to Scripps News. The growing presence of ground robots represents a new trend in a war that has become synonymous with drones. An option. According to The IndependentZelenskyy’s statement could refer to an event that occurred last year in Kharkiv Oblast, northeastern Ukraine. That statement cited a statement from Ukraine’s 3rd Independent Assault Brigade detailing how the unit had used drones and kamikaze ground robots to attack Russian fortified positions on the front lines. The brigade’s statement also described Russian soldiers surrendering to one of the unit’s robots after abandoning damaged fortifications. In fact, it we get to count and there are several examples advances of Russian soldiers, individually or in small groups, surrendering to drones Ukrainians and even before a robotwhile they were recorded on video, so the idea that a group of Russian soldiers surrender to a robot is not far-fetched. Plus: the exploits of these robots on the battlefield also appeared in a recent video which described a similar, or possibly identical, incident involving the same brigade. From logistical support to assault force. Because what began as a limited use of robots for transportation or evacuation tasks has quickly evolved into an active role in combat. I counted a few weeks ago the Guardian that, in a matter of months, missions with unmanned ground vehicles have multiplied, going from thousands to tens of thousands, while drones dominate the battlefield and cause the majority of casualties. In this environment, robots have taken on roles increasingly aggressivefrom placing explosives to opening fire or acting as suicide units, integrating into coordinated operations that previously required infantry. Moving is almost impossible. It we have been counting. The rise of these systems responds to a brutal reality: the front has become a constant death zone dominated by drones, one where any human movement is detected and attacked within minutes. With areas of up to 20 kilometers under permanent surveillance, soldiers can barely move without exposing themselves to attack, which has forced them to completely rethink the way they operate. In that context, sending machines instead of people is not only a tactical advantage, but a necessity to survive. The scene that defines everything. During the last months we have related all kinds of episodes more typical of a fantastic novel. Possibly images of Russian soldiers surrendering to robots armed groups condense this paradigm shift. In some cases, fighters have emerged from destroyed positions to surrender to remotely controlled devices, aware that they were not facing a conventional enemy. For this reason, the operation that has culminated in the capture of a position without direct human intervention reflects the extent to which the war has entered a phase where the physical presence of the soldier is no longer essential to gain ground. Ecosystem in full acceleration. Behind these advances is a dynamic system in which engineers, manufacturers and combat units they work togethertesting and perfecting technologies in real time. In that sense, Ukraine has turned the need in innovationdeveloping fast and scalable solutions that compensate for its resource disadvantage compared to Russia. In fact, it is on its way to becoming one of the great powers weapons with drones and AI as standard bearers of this new war. Hence, furthermore, the model has aroused so much interest from other countries and military alliances, watching how the integration of drones and robots redefines tactics and preparation for future conflicts. A revolution beyond Ukraine. If you also want, beyond the immediate impact on the conflict, all these advances point to a deeper transformation of the art of modern war. Robots already represent an essential part of logistics and begin to replace infantry of the last century in key tasks, with the possibility of significantly reducing the number of soldiers needed at the front. In other words, what happened with that captured position without humans It is not an isolated episode, but rather the preview of a model in which machines will not only accompany the soldier, but, in certain situations, will wage war on their own, completely replacing them. Image | YouTube In Xataka | If you thought Hormuz was not enough, the war in Ukraine has opened another maritime front in Europe: the Gulf of Finland In Xataka | If fog was deadly in Ukraine’s winter, spring is offering Russia a key advantage: greenery