For Ukraine, the strategic imperative to rapidly roll out ground robots is enormous. Four years of war against a numerically larger opponent has imposed huge challenges on its ability to continue recruiting and deploying a large enough force to safeguard its sovereignty.
On a battlefield where the enemy can see and hit almost anything moving within 20 kilometres of the front line, swapping irreplaceable humans for cheap and replaceable robots is a necessary condition for staying in the fight long enough to win it.
But for the immediate future at least, robots are more likely to support that fight, rather than lead it.
More from Jacob Parakilas on ground robots in Ukraine in a new article for @ConversationUK >> theconversation.com/robots-just-ca…
On a battlefield where the enemy can see and hit almost anything moving within 20 kilometres of the front line, swapping irreplaceable humans for cheap and replaceable robots is a necessary condition for staying in the fight long enough to win it.
But for the immediate future at least, robots are more likely to support that fight, rather than lead it.
More from Jacob Parakilas on ground robots in Ukraine in a new article for @ConversationUK >> theconversation.com/robots-just-ca…
theconversation.com Robots just captured a Russian position in Ukraine – but don’t worry about real-life Terminators... Robots have a growing role on the battlefield – but for the immediate future, they are more likely to support the fight than lead it. 
