The Armed Forces of Ukraine establish the first school for ground drone operators

21 November, 2024 A Ukrainian-developed ground combat drone. Photo: Brave1 The Armed Forces of Ukraine have set up the first training school for unmanned ground robotic systems (UGVs) operators.

The Ukrainian General Staff announced this on Thursday, November 21. The school of operators was established on the basis of one of the training centers as part of the Armed Forces work to develop the use of unmanned robotic systems. Currently, future specialists are already being trained with the assistance of the Victory Drones project.

Military personnel are being trained on about ten different types of unmanned ground drone systems, including logistics, special, and engineering. Work is also underway to scale up and improve the project, increasing its effectiveness and providing adequate training and training facilities.

Ukrainian UGV. Spring 2024.

Photo credits: Ministry of Defense

The Armed Forces of Ukraine explained that the training of UAV operators is carried out according to a specific program with the acquisition of a relevant military specialty. To ensure the proper and high-quality level of their training, specialized software tools have been created and training samples of unmanned ground robotic systems are used. Colonel Vitaliy Dobrianskyi, Head of the Innovation Department of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, emphasized that "it is extremely important that future specialists have not only theoretical knowledge but also practical skills.

All this is supported with due attention to the duration of the training process for the crews of the BNSF." Over the past ten months, the Defense Procurement Agency of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has signed 16 contracts to purchase unmanned ground vehicles for various purposes. It is reported that the value of the contracts is estimated at almost UAH 300 million.

As part of the signed contracts, the state has ordered several hundred reconnaissance, strike, logistics, and other unmanned systems made in Ukraine.

Tarhan unmanned ground robotic system. October 2024.

Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

In early November, Militarnyi reported that the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine had codified four multifunctional ground robotic systems developed by members of the Brave1 defense technology cluster.

In particular, the following systems have been codified: Tanchyk, Tarhan 2K, Tarhan 200, and Bureviy.

The Minister briefly described each project.