Ukraine is giving its stockpiled Soviet armored scouts a second life as robots that fight without a crew. Ukrainian producers are converting Soviet-made BRDM-2 armored reconnaissance vehicles into remote-controlled robotic platforms for use on the line of contact after testing, Colonel Vladyslav Voloshyn of the Armed Forces' Central Directorate for Innovation told Ukrinform.
The project turns obsolete Soviet stock into uncrewed platforms that keep soldiers out of danger. Ukraine holds a significant number of BRDM-2s in storage, and reworking them into remotely operated robots as part of a broader push to hand the most dangerous battlefield tasks to machines.
The converted vehicle fights without a crew aboard
The platform will have expanded capabilities to integrate a remote-controlled combat module with automatic weapons of at least 12.7mm caliber, which should increase units' effectiveness and help preserve soldiers' lives, Voloshyn said.
"The main thing is preserving the lives of personnel," he stressed.
It is equipped to operate remotely. The modernized vehicle will carry day-and-night cameras for situational awareness, remote-control systems for its main functions, and location, navigation, and orientation systems, with the combat module integrated over protected data channels.
The upgrades run deep
The conversion goes beyond adding a remote control. Ukraine is developing the ability to control the vehicle from up to 1,000 kilometers away. It also plans to replace the Soviet gasoline GAZ engine with a powerful foreign-made diesel engine, with General Motors or Mercedes engines under consideration, along with an automatic transmission, Voloshyn said.
It gets modern protection too. The vehicle will have added anti-mine protection for the hull bottom, tubeless high-mobility tires, a backup remote-control system inside the body, and anti-fragmentation protection, Voloshyn said.
The work is being accelerated
Preparation is underway for the vehicle's testing and use on the line of contact, according to the Ukrainian colonel, though he did not specify a completion date, explaining that some information on such projects is not for wide release.
One combat episode pushed the timeline up. After a particular battlefield case, the work is to be accelerated, Voloshyn said, adding that the modernized BRDM-2 "may well become a breakthrough on the line of contact."
Read also
-
She joined Ukraine’s army in 2019. Seven years later, she is still feeding the front
-
Ukraine’s biggest weakness against Russia isn’t interceptor shortage, analyst argues. It’s what happens before missiles even launch
-
Russian strikes on Odesa ports push Ukrainian farms toward bankruptcy, Bloomberg reports
