Ukraine should increase the use of robotic ground systems for medical evacuations, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi has stated.
The announcement follows a recent meeting on military medicine within the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which reviewed the condition of medical units, training, and equipment.
During the meeting, officials highlighted the increasing difficulty of immediate evacuations under current battlefield conditions and stressed the urgent need for innovative solutions.
Syrskyi pointed to the extended reach of attack drones as the leading cause of the deeper frontline and the increased danger of casualty extraction.
“In addition to improving the training and equipping of personnel and medical units, the situation can be addressed through new technical approaches to evacuation, including the use of unmanned systems and robotic ground complexes,” he stated.
Some frontline units have already deployed robotic vehicles for evacuation tasks, reporting that unmanned systems can operate in high-risk areas, reducing exposure for personnel and improving the chances of retrieving injured troops under fire.
Local Production
In recent months, Kyiv has intensified its efforts to test and deploy domestically produced unmanned ground vehicles.
In July, Ukrainian tech firm Kvertus began serial production of the Kvertus AD Berserk, a ground robot designed to transport casualties and cargo in areas under high risk of drone attack.
The same month, Kyiv fielded PROTECTOR, its largest ground drone capable of operating in all weather and terrain.
Earlier this year, under the Brave1 defense tech initiative, the country tested more than 70 ground drones from 50 domestic manufacturers on a 10-kilometer (6-mile) route.
The vehicles were evaluated for payload capacity and performance under high-stress conditions, including electronic warfare with shifting frequencies and unmarked navigation paths.
