Russia decided to attack a Ukrainian position “manned” by a robot (OK, technically an unmanned, remote-operated combat vehicle rather than a real robot) with troops on horseback.
The assault went every bit as well as you would expect.
“Ukraine just completed an operation where a ground drone held a position for weeks, implementing innovative technologies for full frontline rotations aimed at replacing infantry. Russia, on the other hand, has introduced an outdated tactic and reintroduced cavalry, with soldiers riding horses to attack Ukrainians over open fields.”
“This contrast was laid bare as Ukraine’s Third Army Corps continued scaling robotic warfare, demonstrating that ground drones are not only for assaults but can also hold defensive lines for extended periods. One striking example came when a DevDroid ground robot was equipped with a 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine gun.” That’s .50 BMG in Freedom Units, AKA “Ma Deuce.”
“For 45 consecutive days, the robot held a frontline position instead of infantry, suppressing enemy movement and repelling assaults without a single Ukrainian casualty. Operated remotely from cover and equipped with thermal vision, the system detected Russian movements in complete darkness, turning night assaults into one-sided engagements where attackers stood no chance.”
“Such operations are sustained by an efficient, decentralized system, with Ukrainian drones remotely controlled from bunkers or armored vehicles and operating in close coordination with aerial drones that scout, jam, and strike targets. With operators positioned behind the contact line and maintenance handled in small frontline workshops embedded within brigades, where technicians repair tracks, sensors, and electronics within hours using mobile tools and 3D-printed components. From there, moving into positions where Russians were detected, using relays from air drones to extend operational range, the ground drones would then return just for a swift swap of batteries, together with the ammo to achieve quick turnaround times and ensure constant defense of the sector.”
“While Ukraine is moving forward technologically, Russia is moving backward. On the Pokrovsk front, where Moscow has concentrated the highest number of soldiers and some of its most capable units, Ukrainian soldiers from the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade documented Russian troops advancing on horseback. The first time they were spotted, the Ukrainian operators had no idea what to do and had no choice but to unfortunately hit both the rider and the horse.”
Poor horsies.
“However, immediately afterwards, Ukrainian operators devised and shared a plan that was soon realized, when they deliberately frightened the horses with flybys, causing them to bolt and throw their riders, before neutralizing the dismounted soldiers while sparing the animals. More footage confirms that Russian forces are increasingly using horses in assaults, a tactic unseen on European battlefields for more than a century.” Reporting from Ukraine is mistaken here. Polish cavalry mounted a charge against German infantry at Krojanty in September of 1939, a mere 87 years ago. (However, despite the myth, Polish cavalry did not attack German tanks.)
“This return of cavalry is not symbolic but driven by necessity, as Russian losses in vehicles and armored transport have been so severe that even elite units are forced to rely on animals to move troops and supplies; yet against drones equipped with thermal sensors and precision munitions, the clash is brutally uneven, and the Russian command appears willing to repeat these futile attacks regardless of the cost.”
“The contrast between the two armies could not be clearer, with Ukraine using drones to solve its manpower challenge by deliberately building a force where technology absorbs risk and preserves lives, as shown by the recruitment of 10,000 new drone operators in less than a month under Magyar’s leadership, while Russia lacks any real way to compensate for its losses and instead falls back on attrition, improvisation, and tactics pulled from the past.”
There’s still a small role for horses in warfare in places where vehicles can’t go (such as Afghanistan, where U.S. special forces employed horses in the mountainous terrain). Ukraine’s notoriously flat and muddy terrain would seem ill-suited for beasts.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 6th, 2026 at 11:03 AM and is filed under Military, video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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18 Responses to “Ukrainian Robots 1, Russian Horses 0”
You really believe the Ukrainians have developed a battery that can run gun servos, thermal vision, and coms for 45 days? Droolin’ Joe’s EPA should have hired you.
The AFU 92nd Separate Assault Brigade has been tied down by the Russian 6th Army on the western edge of Kupyansk for months. They haven’t been in Pokrovsk for at least a year.
HIMARS to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Land mines in front of them
Volley’d and thunder’d;
Storm’d at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the doomed mobiks
But hey, shrub-steppe is good forage so at least the riders who lost their mounts did not condemn the poor brutes to starvation.
Why not? There are COTS thermal trail cameras with wifi that last 12+ months. Adding intermittent use of gun activation will bring that down some, but there’s no reason to believe 45 days is remotely impossible.
“Why not? There are COTS thermal trail cameras with wifi that last 12+ months. Adding intermittent use of gun activation will bring that down some, but there’s no reason to believe 45 days is remotely impossible.”
You have no communications power usage with the robot? It sends no images to the controller? The TI camera requires no pointing servos? The camera requires no compressed air to keep its lens clean in bad weather? No cooling air in hot weather? The robot uses no maneuver power during the 45 days? There is no battery self-discharge?
This story is ridiculous. The Ukrainians have no electricity or diesel fuel to run generators in the FEBA. Everything they supply to their FEBA has to be sent by cargo drone, many of which they have to abandon due to depleted battery charge. No way could they run an energy hog like this robot for 45 days.
“The post SPECIFICALLY MENTIONS battery replenishment.”
This is a country with no no electricity. There is no diesel fuel to run generators in the FEBA. Everything they supply to their FEBA has to be sent by cargo drone. Russian Orlan drones target anything that moves, day or night for artillery strikes. AFU troops are often trapped in the FEBA for months.
The M2, mount and a minimal supply of ammunition weigh 250 pounds. The steel tracked chassis another 1,500 pounds at a minimum. Batteries, motors and controllers another 1,500 pounds.
How are you going to get 1,000 pound batteries in and out of the FEBA to charge them? Horses?
“How are you going to get 1,000 pound batteries in and out of the FEBA to charge them? Horses?”
This is a nonstarter. Ukrainians are kind to their animals. If horses were sent to the Line of Contact and captured by the Russians, they would get raped before being eaten.
Ukrainian forces are bitterly complaining about lack of drone coverage in Kupyansk due to a total absence of charged and replacement batteries. These batteries only weigh a kg at most. AFU drones are launched and retrieved from several km behind the FEBA, so it is apparent that Russian artillery and drones are interdicting AFU logistics deep behind the lines. Now consider supplying 500 kg batteries to the FEBA.
“Dudes, this is specifically what artillery was created for.
So your calvary won’t have to charge a defended position.”
Light drones offer both sides in this war a 10-kilometer “kill zone” This necessitates keeping artillery 15 km distant from the Line of Contact. Russian tube artillery only has about 2/3 the durability of its NATO counterpart and much of it has been used hard. When tube liners get pushed beyond their recommended lifetimes, the resulting wear causes a rapid decrease in range and accuracy such that firing of 5-20 times as many shells is required for the same results as one shell from tubes with useable liners.
If 122mm howitzers are fielded to backstop this loss of range/accuracy in their first line artillery, they are barely able to reach the near rear area of Ukrainian positions. This why the SMO has stalled out. Russian military doctrine emphasizes movement to enable artillery fire but field conditions more closely resemble trench warfare than Blitzkreig.
“Light drones offer both sides in this war a 10-kilometer “kill zone” This necessitates keeping artillery 15 km distant from the Line of Contact. Russian tube artillery only has about 2/3 the durability of its NATO counterpart and much of it has been used hard. When tube liners get pushed beyond their recommended lifetimes, the resulting wear causes a rapid decrease in range and accuracy such that firing of 5-20 times as many shells is required for the same results as one shell from tubes with useable liners.”
Where did you get this tale? The D-20 in 152mm (the actual Russian standard) has a barrel life of 2,500 EFC shots during rapid fire. The D-30 in 122mm has a barrel life of 4,000 EFC shots during rapid fire. The U.S. M777 has a barrel life of 1,500 EFC shots during rapid fire. The Ukrainians burned out their 12 Panzerhaubitze 2000 barrels in less than 700 EFC shots each during rapid fire.
PJSC Plant No. 9 in Yekaterinburg and Titan-Barrikady in Volgograd can crank out 8,000 replacement tubes a month. They have the very best Austrian machinery. More than NATO can produce in a year. Rheinmetall had to call on the Letts to help replace the 12 Panzerhaubitze 2000 barrels which were burned out in less than a month of combat during 2022. Still took six months to effect the replacements, because all their electronics rattled loose.
The drone claimed to have been used in the 45 day deployment is the tracked DevDroid ‘Droid TW 12.7’, not the wheeled FRDM D-21-12 mentioned in this Business Insider piece. Tracked vehicles are always heavier and demand more propulsion energy than wheeled vehicles, so battery life will be much shorter, all other particulars being equal.
The Droid TW 12.7 has no ability to slew its M2HB or its optical suite, so it must constantly bias the treads to traverse scan the battlefield. It is not even clear from the DevDroid web site that the Droid TW 12.7 has elevation servos, but some kind of elevation method is necessary. This is a colossal, continuous battery drain.
DevDroid has provided no weight or battery information on their very entertaining web site. Also, bear in mind that an M2A1 ammunition box containing 100 linked .50 M33 ball cartridges weighs 35 kg (about 75 pounds). Typical combat vehicle loadouts for M2HB Brownings are above 500 rounds. I always tried for 1,000 rounds, which you can burn up in a single gun, in combat, in no time flat. The several Ukrainian videos of both bots show them operating from a single M2A1 box of cartridges. At 500 rpm, M2HB’s eat 100 round cartridge boxes every 12 seconds.
The Droid TW 12.7 does mount the M2HB in a sufficiently stiff mount that it might be somewhat close to being on target for second shots, but not the third. The wheeled FRDM D-21-12 is ‘spray and pray’ from the very first shot. The recoil and action violence of the M2HB does not lend itself well to mounting it on a flimsy moment arm, above a very soft (flexible) suspension. You will also note that the Ukrainians are hard mounting their M2HB’s on both drones, rather than shock mounting them, which further diminishes accuracy.
These drones might have some merit when mounted with an FN MAG type GPMG, but they are a bad joke when an M2HB is mounted.
“Clearly, the orcs would prefer to shell kindergartens and old-age homes but these are out of range from the worn-out Russian artillery.”
The Kupyansk hospital has been derelict since the Soviet days. The Ukrainians have an SOP of hiding their military stuff in hospitals and schools, just like Hezbollah. The Russians destroyed the Kupyansk hospital after the AFU rushed in, just like the Israelis would.
Dudes, this is specifically what artillery was created for.
So your calvary won’t have to charge a defended position.
You really believe the Ukrainians have developed a battery that can run gun servos, thermal vision, and coms for 45 days? Droolin’ Joe’s EPA should have hired you.
The AFU 92nd Separate Assault Brigade has been tied down by the Russian 6th Army on the western edge of Kupyansk for months. They haven’t been in Pokrovsk for at least a year.
HIMARS to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Land mines in front of them
Volley’d and thunder’d;
Storm’d at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the doomed mobiks
But hey, shrub-steppe is good forage so at least the riders who lost their mounts did not condemn the poor brutes to starvation.
“You really believe the Ukrainians have developed a battery that can run gun servos, thermal vision, and coms for 45 days?”
The explanation is quite simple: Ukranian robots get a kick out of firing the the Ma Duce and a charge out of shooting mobiks.
Why not? There are COTS thermal trail cameras with wifi that last 12+ months. Adding intermittent use of gun activation will bring that down some, but there’s no reason to believe 45 days is remotely impossible.
“Why not? There are COTS thermal trail cameras with wifi that last 12+ months. Adding intermittent use of gun activation will bring that down some, but there’s no reason to believe 45 days is remotely impossible.”
You have no communications power usage with the robot? It sends no images to the controller? The TI camera requires no pointing servos? The camera requires no compressed air to keep its lens clean in bad weather? No cooling air in hot weather? The robot uses no maneuver power during the 45 days? There is no battery self-discharge?
This story is ridiculous. The Ukrainians have no electricity or diesel fuel to run generators in the FEBA. Everything they supply to their FEBA has to be sent by cargo drone, many of which they have to abandon due to depleted battery charge. No way could they run an energy hog like this robot for 45 days.
The post SPECIFICALLY MENTIONS battery replenishment.
“The post SPECIFICALLY MENTIONS battery replenishment.”
This is a country with no no electricity. There is no diesel fuel to run generators in the FEBA. Everything they supply to their FEBA has to be sent by cargo drone. Russian Orlan drones target anything that moves, day or night for artillery strikes. AFU troops are often trapped in the FEBA for months.
The M2, mount and a minimal supply of ammunition weigh 250 pounds. The steel tracked chassis another 1,500 pounds at a minimum. Batteries, motors and controllers another 1,500 pounds.
How are you going to get 1,000 pound batteries in and out of the FEBA to charge them? Horses?
“How are you going to get 1,000 pound batteries in and out of the FEBA to charge them? Horses?”
This is a nonstarter. Ukrainians are kind to their animals. If horses were sent to the Line of Contact and captured by the Russians, they would get raped before being eaten.
Ukrainian forces are bitterly complaining about lack of drone coverage in Kupyansk due to a total absence of charged and replacement batteries. These batteries only weigh a kg at most. AFU drones are launched and retrieved from several km behind the FEBA, so it is apparent that Russian artillery and drones are interdicting AFU logistics deep behind the lines. Now consider supplying 500 kg batteries to the FEBA.
This piece says a Ukrainian M2 drone weighs 1,289 pounds total.
“Ukrainian forces are bitterly complaining about lack of drone coverage in Kupyansk.”
Are you referring to the same Kupyansk where a salient of orcs was purged 2-3 weeks ago?
“Dudes, this is specifically what artillery was created for.
So your calvary won’t have to charge a defended position.”
Light drones offer both sides in this war a 10-kilometer “kill zone” This necessitates keeping artillery 15 km distant from the Line of Contact. Russian tube artillery only has about 2/3 the durability of its NATO counterpart and much of it has been used hard. When tube liners get pushed beyond their recommended lifetimes, the resulting wear causes a rapid decrease in range and accuracy such that firing of 5-20 times as many shells is required for the same results as one shell from tubes with useable liners.
If 122mm howitzers are fielded to backstop this loss of range/accuracy in their first line artillery, they are barely able to reach the near rear area of Ukrainian positions. This why the SMO has stalled out. Russian military doctrine emphasizes movement to enable artillery fire but field conditions more closely resemble trench warfare than Blitzkreig.
“Are you referring to the same Kupyansk where a salient of orcs was purged 2-3 weeks ago?”
Yes. The Russians all miraculously came back from the dead. They let the AFU have the hospital and then hit it with a FAB.
“Light drones offer both sides in this war a 10-kilometer “kill zone” This necessitates keeping artillery 15 km distant from the Line of Contact. Russian tube artillery only has about 2/3 the durability of its NATO counterpart and much of it has been used hard. When tube liners get pushed beyond their recommended lifetimes, the resulting wear causes a rapid decrease in range and accuracy such that firing of 5-20 times as many shells is required for the same results as one shell from tubes with useable liners.”
Where did you get this tale? The D-20 in 152mm (the actual Russian standard) has a barrel life of 2,500 EFC shots during rapid fire. The D-30 in 122mm has a barrel life of 4,000 EFC shots during rapid fire. The U.S. M777 has a barrel life of 1,500 EFC shots during rapid fire. The Ukrainians burned out their 12 Panzerhaubitze 2000 barrels in less than 700 EFC shots each during rapid fire.
PJSC Plant No. 9 in Yekaterinburg and Titan-Barrikady in Volgograd can crank out 8,000 replacement tubes a month. They have the very best Austrian machinery. More than NATO can produce in a year. Rheinmetall had to call on the Letts to help replace the 12 Panzerhaubitze 2000 barrels which were burned out in less than a month of combat during 2022. Still took six months to effect the replacements, because all their electronics rattled loose.
“This piece says a Ukrainian M2 drone weighs 1,289 pounds total.”
The drone claimed to have been used in the 45 day deployment is the tracked DevDroid ‘Droid TW 12.7’, not the wheeled FRDM D-21-12 mentioned in this Business Insider piece. Tracked vehicles are always heavier and demand more propulsion energy than wheeled vehicles, so battery life will be much shorter, all other particulars being equal.
The Droid TW 12.7 has no ability to slew its M2HB or its optical suite, so it must constantly bias the treads to traverse scan the battlefield. It is not even clear from the DevDroid web site that the Droid TW 12.7 has elevation servos, but some kind of elevation method is necessary. This is a colossal, continuous battery drain.
DevDroid has provided no weight or battery information on their very entertaining web site. Also, bear in mind that an M2A1 ammunition box containing 100 linked .50 M33 ball cartridges weighs 35 kg (about 75 pounds). Typical combat vehicle loadouts for M2HB Brownings are above 500 rounds. I always tried for 1,000 rounds, which you can burn up in a single gun, in combat, in no time flat. The several Ukrainian videos of both bots show them operating from a single M2A1 box of cartridges. At 500 rpm, M2HB’s eat 100 round cartridge boxes every 12 seconds.
The Droid TW 12.7 does mount the M2HB in a sufficiently stiff mount that it might be somewhat close to being on target for second shots, but not the third. The wheeled FRDM D-21-12 is ‘spray and pray’ from the very first shot. The recoil and action violence of the M2HB does not lend itself well to mounting it on a flimsy moment arm, above a very soft (flexible) suspension. You will also note that the Ukrainians are hard mounting their M2HB’s on both drones, rather than shock mounting them, which further diminishes accuracy.
These drones might have some merit when mounted with an FN MAG type GPMG, but they are a bad joke when an M2HB is mounted.
“They let the AFU have the hospital and then hit it with a FAB.”
Clearly, the orcs would prefer to shell kindergartens and old-age homes but these are out of range from the worn-out Russian artillery.
“Clearly, the orcs would prefer to shell kindergartens and old-age homes but these are out of range from the worn-out Russian artillery.”
The Kupyansk hospital has been derelict since the Soviet days. The Ukrainians have an SOP of hiding their military stuff in hospitals and schools, just like Hezbollah. The Russians destroyed the Kupyansk hospital after the AFU rushed in, just like the Israelis would.