Ukraine said it captured a Russian position using only ground robots and drones, no infantry, for the first time (www.businessinsider.com)
from MicroWave@lemmy.world to world@lemmy.world on 14 Apr 15:21
https://lemmy.world/post/45596217

Ukraine said it took a Russian position using just drones and ground robots.

Zelenskyy said it was a wartime first, and no Ukrainian infantry was involved.

He said robots have done over 22,000 missions in three months, keeping many soldiers from harm.

#world

threaded - newest

Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world on 14 Apr 15:44 next collapse

Begun, the drone wars have

ramasses@social.ozymandias.club on 14 Apr 19:24 collapse

This is some ultrakill bullshit

Context: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrakill?wprov=sfla1

Spoiler

The Final War led to the invention of blood-powered machines as mostly soldiers and an arms race. A climate catastrophe caused by the war led to the Sun being blotted out, ending the war. Humans during the New Peace discovered and then started expeditions into Hell, up until their eventual extinction.

MonkeMischief@lemmy.today on 14 Apr 23:41 collapse

That’s metal AF on so many levels. Gotta play this one.

JoeBidet@lemmy.ml on 14 Apr 15:49 next collapse

“Sarah Connorska?”

Zeta_Reticuli@lemmy.world on 14 Apr 19:45 collapse

Sarah Connorshenko!

grahamja@reddthat.com on 14 Apr 15:53 next collapse

Western Infantry officers will be in shambles if this could be repeated again and again. It has to be tough killing one UGV while quad copters are overhead let alone dozens of them rolling up.

Telodzrum@lemmy.world on 14 Apr 19:07 collapse

Nah, infantry officers would be over the moon if they didn’t have to throw bodies at fortified positions anymore and could just be tasked with holding the AO that the drones assaulted.

minorkeys@lemmy.world on 14 Apr 16:21 next collapse

The age of drone on drone violence will make war more palatable to citizens.

CanadaPlus@futurology.today on 14 Apr 16:53 next collapse

Possible. It does seem like drones fighting drones should mean less human casualties, which has both a humanitarian side and an escalation risk side.

Then again a lot of people have thought their weapons would make war less deadly, and been very wrong, including the case of WWI-era artillery.

LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world on 14 Apr 17:21 next collapse

They “accidentally” told the drones/robots to attack the schools and hospitals. “We would never do that on purpose”

“Well why were the terrorists using school children as human shields!”

I doubt it will ever stop

festus@lemmy.ca on 14 Apr 18:06 collapse

This, but also if you aren’t putting your soldiers at risk then war becomes more palatable (and thus more likely). For example, I doubt Trump would have attacked Iran if he had been quoted 1000+ American causalties in the first week.

untorquer@quokk.au on 14 Apr 19:51 collapse

No one will give a shit about robots dying. The drones will either be attempting to war crime civillians or intercept said war crime robots.

And drone intercept rates arent even close to that not being scary.

treadful@lemmy.zip on 14 Apr 22:47 next collapse

Yeah, destroying inanimate robots isn’t really going to get your enemy to capitulate. Like shooting Iran’s missiles out of the sky isn’t going to change their plan.

People need to die in warfare for it to matter. Economic and infrastructure targets are really only useful in reaching that goal of killing.

BillCheddar@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 03:55 next collapse

People will give a shit about the robots dying once their side starts running low.

When shit turns into Helm’s Deep, when the robots are taking out the last of your defenses, you’ll give a shit lol.

Think of the drones and robots less like soldiers/planes and more like a thousand points that make up a force field. As that field decays, so does your protection beneath it.

untorquer@quokk.au on 15 Apr 04:52 collapse

I think you’re overestimating the defensive capabilities we have. Drones has been so successful in warfare specifically because there is no good counter, and numbers can be used to overcome more effective countermeasures.

Helms deep had walls which were impassable before breaching. Drones leak through defenses like a sieve.

BillCheddar@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 05:04 collapse

Dude, I am not talking about capabilities we have. We’re talking about massive drone-on-drone wars, not today.

So thank you for contributing to some other conversation, but your comment does not exist in the same universe as mine.

untorquer@quokk.au on 15 Apr 05:16 collapse

That world is here and now. The only futuristic or scifi element is the perfect defense.

CanadaPlus@futurology.today on 16 Apr 15:46 collapse

Yes, but human soldiers doing atrocities is nothing new (unfortunately). There’s no obvious reason to think drones will make that particular aspect of warfare worse.

leoj@piefed.zip on 14 Apr 17:46 next collapse

might lead to faster extinction via other methods tho…

Would be super interested to see the camera feed from all the drones involved.

Buelldozer@lemmy.today on 14 Apr 19:23 next collapse

Until the drones start getting used on civilians. Which is absolutely going to happen and soon.

ggtdbz@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 14 Apr 22:08 next collapse

It’s been happening for ages already. What reality do you people live in?

MonkeMischief@lemmy.today on 14 Apr 23:42 collapse

“Whaddya mean, ‘you people’?

BillCheddar@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 03:46 next collapse

We should probably secure rights to EMPs for self defense.

balsoft@lemmy.ml on 15 Apr 14:39 collapse

It’s been happening for a good 20 years already. Do you think US drone strikes were all military targets? Do you think both russia and ukraine didn’t absolutely dronefuck multiple population centers? Do you think israel didn’t use drones to carry out its genocides? There are probably tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of dead civilians due to drone strikes already.

Buelldozer@lemmy.today on 15 Apr 14:57 collapse

You’re not wrong but I was specifically referencing the ground based drones with my comment. Apologies that wasn’t clear.

balsoft@lemmy.ml on 15 Apr 15:13 collapse

Ah yeah, that makes sense. But I feel like it may be a bit easier to run away from a ground-based drone than it is from an aerial one. For one, they’re much slower so you’d probably have a more advanced warning.

MonkeMischief@lemmy.today on 14 Apr 23:45 next collapse

The thing I fear is that this just becomes a ridiculously futile war of resource attrition. It all comes down to who has more metals and chips and armaments to keep throwing at the other’s pools of the same until one gives up. What a waste…

…But then again, writing this, I realize that’s almost already how they treat human soldiers so…what will change, I wonder?

dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 00:32 next collapse

Exactly. We’re already there with which side has more human resources. Meanwhile asymmetric warfare is an escalation of technology and the resources to produce them. Sure, you can tip the balance of power on the battlefield with very clever use of resources, but it’s ultimately a contest of who is willing to dump the most into the conflict.

It could also be argued that technological warfare in a global economy makes resource blockades even more important. Nobody is 100% reliant on their homeland resources anymore. To effectively siege your opponent, you have to cut off everything that can fuel their ability to make war. That can be a huge perimeter in some cases.

BillCheddar@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 03:46 collapse

What will change?

It’s easier to convince young people to hump soldiers into their partners than it is to create more rare earth elements.

CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 02:40 next collapse

How long until inter-country conflicts are settled by robot battles and we’re basically living the plot of Robo Jox?

minorkeys@lemmy.world on 16 Apr 02:04 collapse

As hard as that shit goes, we will probably never see an age of human piloted robots.

juanito_the_great@sh.itjust.works on 15 Apr 11:43 collapse

I really, honestly hope you are right. Sadly, I think you are wrong. I’ve recently been exposed to the concepts of “human safari” and “drone siege” and they aren’t pretty. “Drone on drone” might be just the preamble of these.

slaeg@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 12:43 next collapse

No preamble, unfortunately. The Russians are doing these “human safaris”, which are, of course, clear as day war crimes, to train their drone pilots.

Also to terrorize and wear out the civilian population of course, which is the Russian way of war.

AI drones are coming along, but these won’t only be used on other drones or robots, that much we can know already.

juanito_the_great@sh.itjust.works on 15 Apr 15:00 collapse

Indeed, I meant that in a hypothetical “drone vs drone” war, after the drones win the attacks on civilians and sieges will most likely come after.

minorkeys@lemmy.world on 16 Apr 01:57 collapse

I do not mean it will be tolerable to be near. I mean citizens of nations who choose war will tolerate it more if their own soldiers are not dying in war. If war requires less people and more “stuff” to wage, citizens will feel less motivation to speak out against it. It will make waging war more of an option not less of one, if only equipment is being lost.

meme_historian@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 14 Apr 17:04 next collapse

What a time to be alive, male and between 18 and 50 🫡🫠

Tolc@lemmy.world on 14 Apr 17:13 next collapse

crazy stuff, now twinks will win wars not 7 feet chuds

ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net on 14 Apr 19:18 collapse

I’ve seen some videos about drone operators. They are right next to the front lines, under constant observation by enemy drones, in the range of artillery, getting in and out during the night, spending most time underground. They may not be 7 feet tall but they are still chuds.

turtlesareneat@piefed.ca on 14 Apr 19:53 next collapse

Let’s let capitalism intervene until they’re all in a call center in India

dubyakay@lemmy.ca on 14 Apr 21:48 next collapse

That’s not where you get the top progamers nowadays!

daychilde@lemmy.world on 14 Apr 22:02 collapse

The more remote the comms, the higher the ability to interfere. And someone will always have to be close to launch drones with limited range.

FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world on 14 Apr 21:56 collapse

Maybe the Ukrainian ones, ours sit in an air conditioned room in the Vegas desert then go to the strip club after their shift

daychilde@lemmy.world on 14 Apr 22:03 next collapse

That works for expensive drones, but not so much for the tiny ones that are ubiquitous on front lines.

ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net on 14 Apr 22:09 collapse

Different types of drones. Ukraine uses mostly fiber wire drones (earlier WiFi) due to jamming. High altitude drones use some sat links.

medicsofanarchy@lemmy.world on 14 Apr 17:21 next collapse

Dad said “Mario Kart is a waste of time, son.”

That’s General son to you, Dad.

Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca on 14 Apr 19:46 next collapse

Praise the Omnissiah!

Danarchy@lemmy.nz on 14 Apr 21:05 next collapse

What an amazing entrée to untold horrors

YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today on 15 Apr 03:35 collapse

This is nothing but an amuse-bouche compared to the future I foresee.

Dasus@lemmy.world on 14 Apr 22:59 next collapse

Wait, I’m on the side of the robots for this one?

<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/ab703126-1daa-45c4-aa05-f1b74d746010.gif">

Mulligrubs@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 00:00 next collapse

As always, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

things are going to get really weird

backalleycoyote@lemmy.today on 15 Apr 00:15 next collapse

Good intentions and human skulls.

<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.today/pictrs/image/32721c10-f8ad-4a4d-8872-0f3ded908a80.gif">

orbitz@lemmy.ca on 15 Apr 01:12 collapse

Haha first thing I thought of reading that headline,shit we’re going terminator. Well one day they’ll realize they don’t need us I assume. Just have to blot out the sun to go Matrix…

backalleycoyote@lemmy.today on 15 Apr 03:19 collapse

So many exciting possibilities!!! NGL, I was hoping they’d bring dinosaurs back before the machines killed us. Maybe the Matrix will decide to incorporate them. I can live with that.

DisgruntledGorillaGang@reddthat.com on 15 Apr 23:51 collapse

You want to live with fucking dinosaurs?? Didn’t you watch that movie?

backalleycoyote@lemmy.today on 16 Apr 00:00 collapse

Yeah. But I was a kid in the 80s so I’m also partial to this scenario:

<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.today/pictrs/image/c65b7f16-cebd-498b-9506-555230a2064e.jpeg">

DisgruntledGorillaGang@reddthat.com on 16 Apr 00:01 collapse

Lmao, that was before my time. That’s badass.

BillCheddar@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 03:44 collapse

Looks more like that road is paved with Russian corpses.

Asmodeus77@lemmy.today on 15 Apr 01:17 next collapse

May there be mercy on man and machine for their sins…

SharkWeek@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 15 Apr 03:55 collapse

Ah, a fantastic quote, well done :-)

Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 03:55 next collapse

So… we got two ways to go. One the robot on robot wars end up wiping us all out by exhausting all or resources and of course killing civilians. Or we take to space and have the robot wars stay on earth. Mars at least I figure. For a few at least.

anon_8675309@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 11:53 next collapse

Or… send the robots to mars to fight…

chrizzly@feddit.org on 15 Apr 12:17 next collapse

Or Geonosis

Modern_medicine_isnt@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 18:49 collapse

Yeah, but the resources they want to fight over are on earth… for now. Humans will just have to keeping moving to stay out of the robots way.

AA5B@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 20:25 collapse

I think I’ve seen this somewhere ….

Matriks404@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 12:06 next collapse

Well, the future looks bright enough. We may work to death in captailist states, but at least robots will fight each other, so no need for soldiers.

lemmock@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 12:35 next collapse

…until one of the warring countries runs out of robots anyway. That’s when the real fun starts!

Timecircleline@sh.itjust.works on 15 Apr 13:07 next collapse

This can fill the void that Battlebots’ cancellation left behind.

OpenPassageways@lemmy.zip on 15 Apr 15:19 next collapse

Robots will fight each other over the burnt remnants of our homes.

UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 15:34 collapse

robots will fight each other, so no need for soldiers.

Ukrainian remote operators are killing Russian soldiers today.

In another few weeks, a Russian advance will take territory containing Ukrainian operators. At which point, well…

balsoft@lemmy.ml on 15 Apr 15:16 next collapse

Can’t wait for one of them to be chasing me down for the crime of “thinking unfavorably about Peter Thiel”

UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 15:32 next collapse

If it makes you feel any better, these are all being remote controlled.

So while you’re off from your day job of piloting the robot that hunts down dissident Filipinos, some Filipino operator is driving the drone that bombs your car for its “Impeach President Newsom” bumper sticker.

Something Something Just Like Communist China.

8oow3291d@feddit.dk on 15 Apr 21:34 collapse

If it makes you feel any better, these are all being remote controlled.

Ukraine has started using some AI drones. Probably (my guess) with the AI set to “if you lose connection, try to hit any humans in this area”. So no, not necessarily.

ohulancutash@feddit.uk on 15 Apr 21:40 next collapse

That would be a war crime.

8oow3291d@feddit.dk on 15 Apr 21:43 collapse

How so? If the Ukrainians has previously determined that the area contains no civilians, then how would it be different from firing an unguided missile at the same area.

M0oP0o@mander.xyz on 16 Apr 01:55 next collapse

Or a landmine…

KeenFlame@feddit.nu on 16 Apr 14:07 collapse

Because if no human being is on the trigger it is letting a cold steel killer decide over our races ability to continue living

UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 23:58 collapse

Probably (my guess) with the AI set to “if you lose connection, try to hit any humans in this area”

What could go wrong there?

TerdFerguson@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 23:04 collapse

~BAHWEEP~

YOU ARE IN VIOLATION OF THE ONLINE DISCOURSE FAIRNESS ACT OF 2026. LIE DOWN ON THE GROUND AND PREPARE TO BE DEPORTED.

STOP RESISTING.

DISSIDENT NEUTRALIZED.

~WEEP-WOOP~

nieceandtows@programming.dev on 15 Apr 15:29 next collapse

One small step for man, one giant warning siren for mankind.

icelimit@lemmy.ml on 15 Apr 19:33 next collapse

It’s also a pretty big step for man.

A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 21:36 collapse

Yeah… I really don’t like the changes that the Russian Invasion of Ukraine are making to war.

Cheap Kamikaze drones, unmanned roving gun turrets, etc etc… Removing men on the ground feels like its gonna make it easier to pursue and lust for wars as these technologies continue to advance further and remove the human components.

nieceandtows@programming.dev on 15 Apr 22:12 next collapse

well said. No boots on the ground doesn’t seem to mean less wars, just more wars with less boots on ground.

A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 22:46 collapse

Yep.

it doesnt mean less wars.

It just means more innocent/civilian suffering.

sunbytes@lemmy.world on 16 Apr 13:13 collapse

What happens when it’s an occupying force? i.e. mainly around civilians.

It’s going to be a special kind of hell.

SethTaylor@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 20:00 next collapse

Robot Wars was a documentary

Alberat@lemmy.world on 15 Apr 21:24 next collapse

sudo make the Russians retreat

PrettyFlyForAFatGuy@feddit.uk on 15 Apr 21:36 collapse

You are not in the sudoers file, this incident will be reported

Rooster326@programming.dev on 16 Apr 00:03 collapse

Sudo delete the incident report

baeb66@lemmy.today on 16 Apr 00:30 collapse

Russian soldiers have been recorded surrendering to both aerial drones and ground robots in this war, including by writing messages of surrender that they presented to the operator via the onboard camera and surrendering after notes telling them to do so were dropped by drones.

Surrendering to a machine sounds humiliating but still a better option than going back to the Russian military.