On July 7, the National Guard brigade ‘Khartiya’ demonstrated a modified M113 armored personnel carrier converted into a robotic vehicle for remote demining. An operator controls the vehicle using a remote control while remaining at a safe distance from the mined area. This makes it possible to clear lanes through minefields without putting sappers’ lives at risk.
“Technology saves human lives — this is one of Khartiya’s principles, which drives our developers to seek new solutions for the modern battlefield,” the brigade states.
According to the developers, remote control of the mine clearer became another step in the unit’s development of robotic solutions — a unit that has long been advancing the field of ground robotic systems.
The idea of a remote-controlled M113 for demining is not new: similar projects are being tested by the U.S. Army as well. In particular, an unmanned M113 variant fitted with the M58 MICLIC mine-clearing charge was demonstrated in 2024 at Fort Irwin in California. The advantage of the solution lies in the speed of conversion: a remote-control package can be installed on a standard APC in just a few hours.
For ‘Khartiya,’ this mine clearer is part of a broader ground robotic systems (GRS) development program within the corps. According to the head of this program, callsign “Matematyk” (Mathematician), as recently as last year the brigade’s ground robots were transporting up to five tons of cargo per month, whereas now volumes have grown to approximately 60 tons.
In addition to logistics, the brigade’s robotic platforms carry out mining, demining, and evacuation tasks — and, according to the developers, the engineering track is currently developing more slowly than the logistics track due to a shortage of manufacturers of specialized equipment.
Ground robotic systems in Ukraine have evolved over recent years from isolated experiments into a systemic element of combat operations. Last year alone, the Ministry of Defense cleared several dozen new domestically produced systems for use by the armed forces.
GRS are already being used for wounded evacuation, ammunition delivery, fire support, mining, and demining — and in late 2024, the Defense Forces conducted the first documented engagement in which an enemy position was taken exclusively by robotic systems and drones, without infantry involvement.