Russian manufacturer developing robot to target Abrams, Leopard tanks

A Russian manufacturer has announced its plans to adapt one of its ground robots to target Abrams and Leopard tanks.  These are the types of tanks being dispatched to Ukraine from the United States, Germany, Poland and other nations.

Dmitry Rogozin, who is a former head of the Russian space corporation Roscosmos and current head of the “Royal Wolves” group, who have an advisory role with Russian government, posted on Telegram on Wednesday that his group was working alongside the Advanced Research Foundation and a company called Android Technology in a joint product to develop a combat version of Android’s Marker ground reconnaissance robot. 

“Everyone agrees that our strike [version] of the Marker, before the arrival of the Abrams and Leopards in Ukraine, should be prepared for their destruction,” Rogozin posted.

In an interview  with Russian news site RIA Novosti, Rogozin said the Marker would “be able to automatically detect and hit the ‘Abrams’, ‘Leopard’ and other vehicles due to the electronic catalog in the control system with images of enemy equipment.”

In 2018, Android made headlines after making a claim that it would put a robotic cosmonaut named FEDOR onto the International Space Station. This has not happened at this stage.

Sam Bendett, who is a senior member at the Center for a New American Security and an adviser at the CNA Corporation, cast doubts over Russia’s ability to not only field combat robots, but also how effective they would be.

“It appears that most of the existing Markers, 3 out of 5, will in fact be tested in Ukraine, and can be lost in combat,” Bendett said via email. “It also appears that Android Technology is actually ok with that, indicating a willingness to respond to the [Ministry of Defense] needs for improved weapons and tactics, and perhaps indicating that the company is working on other projects that can build on the Marker experience.”

Bendett expressed skepticism on Twitter and said that the announcement was likely to drum up some positive PR for the war.

“Previous Marker tests – at least those made public – were against small UAVs, and these [unmanned ground vehicles, or UGVs] conducted tests for orienting in a complex space like a forest, but not an actual battlefield where multiple countermeasures are trying to destroy the vehicle. Moreover, Western tanks will be part of combined arms formations with aerial support like drones and UAVs, which are going to hunt for any Russian target, including the likes of Marker ground vehicles. Rogozin’s earlier claims of Marker as a recon UGV were more realistic.”