July 17, 2026: The Ukrainian military is planning to obtain about 50,000 GTD\Ground Transportation Drones. These will be used to transport supplies, move wounded soldiers to medical facilities in rear areas, and support combat missions. Currently, GTDs are carrying out over 15,000 missions a month, and by the end of the year, 20 to 30,000 Ukrainian soldiers will have avoided wounds or death because of the GTDs. Front line units will require up to 40 percent fewer soldiers to defend the thousand-kilometer-long front line. Armed GTDs can also conduct patrols, in coordination with aerial drones overhead. A growing number of GTDS are being armed with machine guns, mortars, or rocket launchers. Increasingly, Russian troops are encountering armed GTDs and fleeing or surrendering. The GTD operators, who are dozens of kilometers away from the front line, have long had a script for dealing with Russian prisoners. Armed GTDs also carry quadcopter drones that are deployed when a distant target is detected. GTDs are also regularly left to monitor a position for over a month before they must receive new batteries, ammunition, or maintenance.

NUMO is the largest GTD manufacturer in Ukraine, and one of their most widely used GTDs is a 1.5-meter-high, 1.23-meter-wide, and 1.4-meter-long tracked vehicle that weighs 320 kg and can carry a 300-kg payload. Max speed is 10 kilometers per hour, with a normal range of 25 kilometers, which can be extended to 45 kilometers if additional batteries are carried. Control is via Wi-Fi for up to 1,500 meters or Starlink at any range. Each of these drones costs $30,000, with the total cost rising to $ 40,000 or $ 50,000 as more accessories are added. Ukrainian GTD manufacturers argue that they will need to produce about 200,000 GTDs per year to supply combat troops, but that may not be possible until next year. This year, 100,000, or maybe 120,000, GTDs are achievable.

Three years ago, Ukraine began receiving fifty Agema GTDs from the UAE/United Arab Emirates for combat testing by Ukrainian troops. Agema is a 602 kg vehicle powered by a gasoline engine that enables the vehicle to move at a top speed of 29 kilometers an hour on land and five kilometers an hour when in the water using its amphibious capability. The GTDs sent to Ukraine were not equipped with any weapons. Agema can carry up to 622 kg of cargo. Agema can also tow a trailer carrying up to half a ton of cargo. Agema can be remotely controlled or programmed for autonomous tasks, like following a group of soldiers or leading them.

Agema is not a unique concept; there have been earlier efforts to create similar vehicles. For example, in 2021, Roboteams, an Israeli GTD manufacturer, introduced one of the first truly autonomous GTDs: the Rook. Roboteams has been around since 2009 and has continued decades-old Israeli efforts to create more useful GTDs. One reason for this effort is that Israel has been facing continuous military and terrorist threats since the 1940s. Developing better weapons and equipment was easier because the new items are immediately put to the test. There are few outright failures, and even items that worked as designed generated suggestions from users to improve the weapon or equipment. This has been very much the case with GTDs and the Rook, a 1.2-ton 6x6 vehicle that can carry 1.2 tons of equipment and operate for up to eight hours using a hybrid generator/battery motor. Max speed is 30 kilometers an hour, and it can be towed by other vehicles at up to 80 kilometers an hour. An operator can control several Rooks simultaneously using the Torch-X software, which allows control of any ground, aerial, or seagoing autonomous vehicle equipped to work with Torch-X. There is also a ruggedized tablet with a seven-inch display that controls ROOKs within a thousand meters of the operator.

Ukrainian soldiers, like their American counterparts, find that they have too much to carry and are seeking help from a drone to act as their cargo-carrying mule. For a long time, infantry have been carrying too much weight. It's a problem going back thousands of years, and few armies have been able to solve it. The American Army had a team of researchers in Afghanistan to collect information on the situation, and the numbers were not good. They found that the lightest load carried, the Fighting Load for situations where the troops were sneaking up on the enemy and might be involved in hand-to-hand combat, was about 29 kg. The Approach March Load, for when infantry were moving up to a position where they would shed some weight to achieve their Fighting Load, was 46 kg. The heaviest load, 60 kg, was the Emergency Approach March Load, where troops had to move through terrain too difficult for vehicles. As in the past, the troops often ignored the rules and regulations and dumped gear to keep moving. The researchers found that in Afghanistan, even though the infantry were in excellent physical shape, troops would sweat nearly 591 ml of fluid an hour while marching at high altitudes in bright sunlight in moderate temperatures. That meant more weight, in water, had to be found to keep these men going.

A lot of the weight carried is essential; weapons, for example. But the Army saved .91 kg in the 1960s when they switched from the M-14 rifle to the M-16. A lot of weight was saved in ammo carried as well, because a hundred M-16 bullets weighed .91 kg less than a hundred M-14 ones. Troops usually carry 200-300 rifle rounds. Plastic canteens replaced metal ones, and lighter sleeping bags and clothing appeared. Lighter food, pouches of freeze-dried MREs instead of wet food cans of C Rations. But heavier items were added, like the 7.7 kg Interceptor bulletproof vest and the heavier Kevlar helmet. Special Forces troops often go into action without a helmet and Interceptor vest, keeping the load under 18.2 kg. But that's only in those situations where the Special Forces calculate that speed and achieving surprise are worth more than the protection the vests provide. Most troops do not have that option.

The solution may be one that the Romans adopted 2,000 years ago. When marching to a combat zone, Roman soldiers carried over 45 kg. Eventually, it was decided to give every squad of eight soldiers a mule to carry part of the load and keep the troops fresh enough to do strenuous fighting if they encountered enemy troops unexpectedly while on the march.