Russian Army Robots

Russia to demonstrate newest combat robot at Army-2019 defense show

Delegates from over 130 defense ministries are expected to attend Army-2019 forum

MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. Russia’s Signal Research Institute (part of Precision Systems within the state hi-tech corporation Rostec) will demonstrate the Paladin combat robot based on the chassis of the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) at the Army-2019 international military and technical forum, according to the materials posted on the government procurement website on Tuesday.

"Insurance covers the following exhibits: the Paladin combat robot with the Dragun unmanned module based on the BMP-3 IFV chassis and comprising the following: the mobile robotic vehicle and a portable control panel," says an agreement posted on the website on the comprehensive insurance of risks associated with the participation in exhibition events.

According to the materials, the insurance sum equals 80 million rubles ($1.2 million).

In 2015, the Signal Research Institute featured the Udar (Strike) combat robot based on the BMP-3 IFV platform. The Udar was armed with a combat module with a 30mm gun, a 7.62mm machine-gun and Kornet anti-tank missile launchers. A similar module is mounted on advanced infantry fighting vehicles based on the Bumerang and Kurganets combat platforms.


More:
http://tass.com/defense/1061560

By 2020 work will start on heavy UGV MBT "Storm":

 In 2020, work will begin on the heavy "tank" robot "Storm"


Next year, development work will begin on the creation of the heavy class robotic complex "Storm".
About this in the newspaper "Red Star" in the material "The Queen of the fields is building up power," said Army Commander-in-Chief Oleg Salyukov.


Most likely, the development will be carried out with the active use of the chassis of the T-72B3 tank. Images appeared on the web of these promising machines. For all their conventions, one can understand that the so-called "heavy platoon" will include a 50-ton combat vehicle, which has as its armament a 152-mm or 125-mm cannon with a coaxial PKT machine gun, an unmanned version of the BMPT Terminator, and a similar one on a heavy armored personnel carrier control machine.
A distinctive feature of this technique will be its high security, which will make it possible to use it as a kind of ram during offensive operations (the very name “Sturm” seems to hint at this).


In recent years, Russian gunsmiths have gained vast experience in this direction, including through the use of robotic technology during the Syrian operation, it will certainly come in handy and will be used to create such a promising technology.

https://vestnik-rm.ru/news/oborona-i-bezopasnost/v-2020-godu-nachnutsya-raboty-nad-tyazhelym-tankovym-robotom-shturm

That concept t72 teletank looks like a lot of fun, should show the slimy bushwacking bastards of the world.

Using something like this as a "battering ram" makes sense when you think about it

All ATGMs in use currently operate by killing the crew not by disabling the machinery itself

If there is no crew Inside to kill then ATGMs are rendered pretty much useless

Sending one of these robots will also force enemies to reveal their location which will expose them to fire from units behind the robots

Only way for infantry to deal with these robots would be with field artillery but those are not exactly man portable or easy to hide

Even artillery would expose itself to counter-battery fire.

Isos wrote:Or worse take controle of them and send them to fight you.

Unlikely. Taking control over their systems is extremely difficult. How will someone achieve that ?

Syria was the first test. The main complaint was that the radio set was to weak. Easy to solve.

Now the Kungas command and control system for robots was put into service. It will ease the workload of the controler, the robots can also solve problems on their own.

All ATGMs in use currently operate by killing the crew not by disabling the machinery itself

Indeed... that is the logic of the unmanned turrets on their new vehicles, but unless it starts a fire or sets off ammunitions or kills crew then it isn't really effective.

Human shaped robots are interesting in this regard too... the natural thing when shooting at a human shape is to aim for the head, but when designing a robot there is no reason to place what is essentially the brain or power supply inside the head of the robot... it makes more sense to put that in the chest protected by armour.

In a human being the brain being in the head is necessary to process what you see and hear and taste and smell in a part of the body that can easily move and pivot to gather information without needing to move the whole body.

For a robot you could have multiple remote sensors that can be detached and launched to offer better views... without having the schematics of the design however you would have to riddle the robot with bullet holes to try to find a vulnerable place to damage or destroy it, and these robot vehicles could be the same...

Sending one of these robots will also force enemies to reveal their location which will expose them to fire from units behind the robots

In fact sensors on the robot vehicles would be more useful than weapons... as the enemy fires on the robot it can use audio and optical and radar sensors to determine the type of weapon and its location and plot out the positions the enemy are currently occupying... multiple vehicles sitting back at stand off distances can then engage with direct fire weapons like 125mm guns and 120mm mortars... or just 40mm grenade launchers and HMGs and light cannon...

Only way for infantry to deal with these robots would be with field artillery but those are not exactly man portable or easy to hide

Anti armour weapons will need to evolve and adapt to take out engines and tracks or wheels, but also anti optics weapons will need to be used as well as jamming control signals etc etc.

Or jamm the control of those robots. Or worse take controle of them and send them to fight you.

I suspect there will be an AI element involved in these robots so jammed control signals might just put it in a return mode to head back to friendly lines while transmitting the direction and range of the jammer... perhaps firing on the jammer itself could be part of the design.

I would suspect a force sophisticated enough to have such vehicles will also have the EW support to prevent hostile take over or manipulation of their own robots.

Iran took control of a US drone and landed it in an iranian airbase. With ground based drones it is even easier.

AFAIK that drone was damaged when it crashed so I rather suspect it was jammed and automatically landed rather than they took control of it as such.

Russian ground drones in Syria lost signal many times because of urban environment and they mainly had bad results with them and it was against an oponent with no sigint/elint/jamming equipment.

That was issues with signal direction/line of sight issues, and signal strength... those systems were designed to be telecontrolled rather than to operate autonomously on their own in a hostile environment. Most were designed for perimeter control at a military base rather than roaming into enemy held territory and looking for targets.

Isos wrote:

jhelb wrote:

Isos wrote:Or worse take controle of them and send them to fight you.

Unlikely. Taking control over their systems is extremely difficult. How will someone achieve that ?

Iran took control of a US drone and landed it in an iranian airbase. With ground based drones it is even easier.

Russian ground drones in Syria lost signal many times because of urban environment and they mainly had bad results with them and it was against an oponent with no sigint/elint/jamming equipment.

When the announcement about Armata's having tele-control, UVZ and MOD explicitly stated that they will be limited to 6km command and control, for this very reason. The thing is if your trying to take it over within the 6km it becomes a suicidal death wish, ELINT/SIGINT can directly track the location and bombard the position with all kinds of munitions. A shutdown function could be built in to prevent hijacking similar to password protection, if their's malicious hacking that's attempted it could make it shutdown and or return to designated base using inertial guidance without the need of GPS/GLONASS.

The article seems to suggest that a future MBT (likely Armata based) that has a 152mm gun would be a teletank, foregoing a manned version. This actually makes sense because the additional weight of a 152mm gun/turret and ammunition would force it to grow in weight and ground pressure, but a unmanned version could be built to have more of the gun built in to the body (using up the original crew space) making it have less internal volume (less weight) and smaller turret silhouette (making it a smaller target). 

The 152mm gun would likely borrow the microwave ignition system to make it safer as well. Similar Armata Tele-AFV's could be built to use the additional space for more ammo, more fuel, or they could built to have far less internal volume to make them light enough to float across rivers. Some years back a UVZ rep talked about the eventual creation of versions of Armata AFV's that could float and cross rivers, the UGV versions should be optimized to have minimal internal volume and put them in the Kurganets-25 weight range (35-40 tons).

Supposedly the first pic of a Uran-9 in Syria, courtesy SouthFront.

Can't you tell it's an Autobot?



It seems that there is steady progress to extending regular forces with robotic elements both on the ground and in the sky.
Next stage is the sea.

kvs wrote:Can't you tell it's an Autobot?....

It's clearly a Deception symbol

I will call him Brawl

https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Brawl_(G1)

Isos wrote:

Only way for infantry to deal with these robots would be with field artillery but those are not exactly man portable or easy to hide

Or jamm the control of those robots. Or worse take controle of them and send them to fight you.

Your second suggestion is peak cheap TV, lay off NCIS and Arrow

As for former, just set them to shoot at anything in vicinity that moves should they ever lose control signal

Isos wrote:Syrian "opposition" used SAA's tanks against SAA. ..

Did they do it via remote signal?

Isos wrote:...Controling the robot with other tools should be very difficult if not impossible but jaming it and making it turn off (no one would program a robot to shoot randomly) ...

Everyone would do it for this precise reason, if they try to jam it it's their funeral

What would they have to worry about anyway?

Isos wrote:...then size the command post 6km away is possible...

They already figured out that they need longer distance thanks to these same Uran-9 robots being tested in Syria

Isos wrote:Friendly soldiers will be targeted...

They won't be because robots go in first, soldiers wait several kilometers back and pick off what robots flush out

Isos wrote:...Or civilians.

And?

We really don't know whether these robot systems are intended for WWIII or for COIN ops to reduce casualties.

Equally we really don't know what tactics would be used in each case... for instance will they be used to scout ahead in enemy controlled territory to find enemy positions so they can be targeted by other means.

Remember a popular use for unmanned aerial drones was to get air defences to open fire so their locations can be determined and dealt with by higher flying aircraft or aircraft further away.

The standard use in Syria and indeed the US in Afghanistan is a case where a small number of special forces on the ground lead a large friendly ground force forward into enemy held territory... the enemy can either hide and be taken out one at a time as the ground force clears the area of enemy forces, or they can form up and meet the threat... which makes them an excellent target for air power and artillery, or they can run away and be attacked as they retreat by air power and artillery.

These robot vehicles could be used to find enemy forces and their location and either engage them, or pass their coordinates back to HQ so airpower or artillery or friendly vehicles located further back can deal with them... a BMP-3M can fire 100mm HE shells out to 7km so having them sit back with friendly forces and sending in a robot to provide target information the BMP-3M can be safe from most ATGMs, but can engage point targets using cheap but relatively accurate 100mm HE Frag rounds. The robot vehicle sent in to harms was wont be particularly vulnerable to enemy anti armour weapons... though engine and tracks could immobilise it it can continue to fire making it still very dangerous.

Regarding taking control... what commands make it go forward or backwards? You could intercept its datalink feeds but unless you are an idiot like the Americans... and the Russians are not, it will be encrypted. Any commands it receives on its datalink channels could probably be located by friendly forces and attacked pretty quickly... the way they currently do for enemy UAV pilots.

Taking control is unlikely and these are unmanned land vehicles... not tele controlled... so rather than controlling the tracks and driving it yourself, you would send coordinates to direct it to drive itself and information about potential enemy positions and directions to look.

Depending on the situation it might be set to fire on automatic any human target deemed to be armed or firing on the vehicle, but much of the time it will probably be monitored so targets are selected by a human... if you are sending it in to an area it is because you don't want to kill everything but there are enough enemy there to make it too dangerous to send a manned vehicle perhaps.

Would be interesting actually... you could make an outer layer of armour that is sheet metal but consists of thousands of 12 gauge shotgun shells pointed outwards... loaded with buckshot you could set up patterns of fire as a mini APS that could be used against both incoming rockets or enemy infantry that get too close or to deal with threats like fire bombs etc...

Here's a better photo:

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russian-military-robot-makes-rare-appearance-on-syrian-battlefield-video/

“Information about the appearance in Russia of the Russian combat robot ‘Uranus-9’, capable of easily destroying enemy armored vehicles and gutting military aircraft, appeared long ago. However, it is reported that a unique robotic complex has been spotted in northern Syria. Judging by the photograph presented, the combat robot took an active part in military operations together with the Russian and Syrian military, including in repelling numerous attacks by militants,” they said.

“At the moment, neither the place nor the date of the picture was made public, however, a number of sources say that the photo could have been taken in northern Syria, where this combat unit is used against militants supported by the Turkish army. Nevertheless, a number of other sources claim that we are talking about the testing period of the Russian combat robotic complex.

As pointed out by Avia.Pro, it is not clear when the photo was actually taken; however, it is believed to have been fairly recent, given the increased violence in the Idlib Governorate over the last two weeks.

It is not clear, if those Uran-9 pictures are from period of combat testings some time ago in Syria or if they are deployed to Syria again.