December 1, 2025:
Ukrainian soldiers often use UGVs/Unmanned Ground Vehicles to carry food, munitions or fuel to troops in the drone-infested front line combat zone. UGVs can also be used to move wounded soldiers from the combat zone to safety. A UGV can be operated by the wounded soldier, which is useful if the UGV has to follow a different route back to safety.
A major obstacle for UGVs are the swarms of Russian drones that might descend on them if the Russian drone operators believe the UGV is particularly important. For this reason, a soldier or soldiers travelling on a UGV will have ponchos or tarps handy to cover themselves while they lie still to make any FPV/First Person View drone operator believe there is nothing worth attacking on the UGV. The explosive charge carried by an FPV drone is not powerful enough to damage or destroy a 3x3 or 4x4 wheeled UGV
Ukrainian FPV drones equipped with a sensor that tracks the movement of the Russian drone and where it was launched by its hidden operator. The sensor leads Ukrainian drones to that location where the operator is killed and any additional drones with him destroyed. One vital task for the Ukrainian drones is attacking Russian truck or UGV traffic near the front line. Current Ukrainian drones can destroy these vehicles operating within ten kilometers of the front. Without the trucks Russian troops must carry supplies or pull carts full of material to the front line. This is manageable. But now the Ukrainians are about to introduce a larger drone with a range of 40 kilometers. That distance is prohibitive for Russian supply movement. In other words, the Ukrainians will starve the Russians out. This has forced the Russians to speed up their adoption of UGVs.
Ukraine has been using UGVs since the war began. In 2022 Germany sent Ukraine 14 THeMIS/ Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry System vehicles. Ukraine began using these UGVs for getting casualties safely out of areas under enemy fire. The first THeMIS was provided by the manufacturer, an Estonian company and was very successful. Germany delivered seven THeMIS CASEVAC/CASualty EVACuation models by the end of 2022 with the next seven delivered four months later, configured for route clearance, which means clearing mines and other explosives from a road under remote control from a distance of to 1,500 meters.
The CASEVAC saves a lot of manpower getting casualties to a rear area and does this more quickly and safely. THeMIS has a Follow Me capability that enables one person to lead the THeMIS along a safe path. One or two casualties on stretchers or half a dozen seated can be carried.
THeMIS was introduced in 2015 and entered service in 2020. It is a tracked 1.6-ton UGV with a remarkably effective sensor system that enables it to find its way through any terrain. It is a compact UGV measuring 2.4 meters long, two meters wide and 1.15 meters high. THeMIS uses a diesel generator to recharge UGV batteries. When operating, electricity is used for propulsion for five or more hours of continuous use. THeMIS has a 1.2-ton payload, which can consist of cargo, casualties, more sensors or even weapons. Top speed is 20 kilometers an hour but it normally moves at a walking pace. At least ten NATO members have evaluated THeMIS and most then purchased THeMIS. Russia would like to obtain a THeMIS but sanctions prohibit that.
Several weeks after THeMIS first arrived in Ukraine, Russia offered a $16,000 bounty to anyone who could obtain and deliver an intact THeMIS UGV to them. Because one of these UGVs was in Ukraine, Russia considered it fair game. After all, Ukrainian forces have captured many advanced Russian systems intact and shared that booty with NATO. That’s one reason NATO nations are so generous in providing Ukrainian forces with weapons and equipment. For decades Russia has obtained advanced Western military tech from foreign combat zones where American aircraft and missiles crashed but were still largely intact. All this American high tech helped Russia develop similar weapons.