The AFU Combat Robot Held Its Own Position For 45 Days
2- 8.01.2026, 16:01
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Ukrainian military revealed for the first time the details of the unprecedented operation.
The Ukrainian military has for the first time revealed details of an unprecedented operation in which a single ground combat robot held forward positions for 45 consecutive days without the constant presence of soldiers. This was exclusively told to Business Insider by the commander of the NC-13 strike company of the Third Army Corps of the AFU Nikolai Zinkevich with the call sign "Makar".
"Only the UGV system was present at the position. This was the main concept - robots don't bleed," he explained.
The robot in question is the Droid TW 12.7, a tracked remote-controlled buggy made in Ukraine (DevDroid company), equipped with a M2 Browning 50-caliber heavy machine gun. According to the commander, the robot repeatedly moved between positions at the request of the command and observation post and performed a key task - suppressing fire and deterring the advance of Russian troops.
The drone was serviced every two days: the crew was about 4 kilometers from the contact line. At first it took about four hours, but after the purchase of additional batteries - only two hours.
"The Ukrainian military often spends its own money on this," Zinkevich noted.
According to the developer, the Droid TW 12.7 has an operating radius of up to 24 kilometers, can be controlled by radio channel and uses elements of artificial intelligence for autonomous movement. At the end of the year, the Third Army Corps released a video of the drone's combat operation.
In addition to the machine gun version, Ukraine has already allowed ground drone modifications with 40mm Mk-19 and AGL-53 grenade launchers for military use.
Rota NC-13 was established in September 2025 and is currently focused on scaling ground-based unmanned systems for defense and assault operations. "The demand for these systems is really high," Zinkevich said, adding that the unit has had to raise crowdfunding for further development.
"Today we believe this is the most profitable investment," the commander concluded.
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