It is a fact that in every war the effectiveness of existing weapon systems and means, which are widely known to exist in the arsenal of belligerent or allied states, is tested, but also that new weapon systems are tested for the first time.
This is also happening in the war in Ukraine.
In particular, the National Center for the Development of Technology (NCDT), which develops advanced technologies in Russia and is considered equivalent to the American organization DARPA, has sent 4 first armed unmanned ground vehicles Marker to the Donbass region to be used on the battlefield.
In a recent article we covered the topic at length, pointing out that the Marker can be armed with different types of anti-tank missile systems, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns. The battle robot navigates on the ground by itself and independently follows a path. A modular multispectral vision system using neural network techniques for data processing ensures platform independence.
"The Marker robot vehicle can hit American Abrams tanks and German Leopards that will be given as free aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine," said Dmitry Rogozin, former general director of Roskosmos and head of the special group of military advisers "Wolves". of the Tsar" (Tsar Wolves).
He explained that the unmanned vehicle has a control system, and an electronic catalog with images of targets in the visible and infrared range, thanks to which it will proceed to targeting," said Rogozin.
After news of more than 100 tanks being sent to Ukraine by Western countries in recent days, Russia said the Marker Unmanned Ground Vehicle could take part in the battlefield to counter the tanks.
However, it is considered quite early to use the title 'Tank Hunter' for the Marker iKA, which has yet to be proven on the battlefield.
Another statement on the matter came from Samuel Bendett, Senior Officer at the American Security Center:
«Το ενδιαφέρον είναι ότι. Το Marker SPG ήταν πάντα ένας δείκτης ιδέας και μια ναυαρχίδα για μη επανδρωμένα οχήματα εδάφους που χρησιμοποιούν τεχνητή νοημοσύνη. Έτσι, η αποστολή αυτής της ιδέας στο πεδίο της μάχης μας οδηγεί να κάνουμε περισσότερες ερωτήσεις.»
The Marker Unmanned Ground Vehicle was previously tested in some areas for reconnaissance, observation and intelligence purposes. A small unmanned aerial vehicle can take off from it, and it was capable of aerial observation and was successful in testing.
Stating that test environments such as forests and terrain are not like the chaotic environment of war, Bendett said they will learn together how Russia's unmanned ground vehicle will perform in real-world conditions.
What can Marker SPG do on the battlefield?
Russia is a country that has been using its new technologies on the battlefield for many years. The Uran-9 Unmanned Ground Vehicle was sent to Syria in early 2018 to test and assist personnel.
Due to the ongoing problems of communication and automation technologies, it could be used at short distances such as 300 to 500 meters.
Therefore, even Russian officials stated that this technology was "not suitable for service in a combat environment."
Nevertheless, Uran-9 unmanned ground vehicles, which underwent some changes, were sent to the combat environment in Ukraine last year.
So, what benefits can the Marker Unmanned Ground Vehicle provide in the combat environment?
Addressing this question, Samuel Bendett said that the Marker Unmanned Ground Vehicle will see how well it can function in a chaotic war environment. It states that it can only happen in areas controlled by Russia.
What if unmanned ground vehicles are destroyed?
The main purpose of using an unmanned ground vehicle in a combat environment is to not endanger human life by using this technology in dangerous missions. However, if personnel are sent to rescue unmanned technologies that have entered a dangerous situation in the combat environment and suffered damage or accident, human life will still be at risk.
Of course, using these technologies on the front lines of war undoubtedly comes at a cost.
For this reason, although the use of unmanned ground vehicles has not yet become widespread.
When their efficiency increases it is a fact that we will see the widespread use of unmanned ground vehicles by many countries in the combat environment of the future.
The case of Greece
Greece, in the matter of Unmanned Ground Vehicles, is at an infant level, unjustifiably in our opinion, and this because due to reduced human resources, the above vehicles would be extremely useful, widely used in Evros and islands.
In particular, personnel could be saved in peacetime from the guarding of camps and facilities as well as from the guarding of the Evros river.
At the same time, in a time of intense operations, they could undertake with a minimum of staff, the guarding of Command Stations - munitions warehouses and important energy infrastructures and public utility projects.
In closing, we point out that Greece must run through its defense industry and PESCO to close the loophole from Turkey, in the matter of kamikaze UAVs, UCAVs, marine USVs and land unmanned combat vehicles.
