Russians show off a robotic mini-tank combat vehicle

Another “analog network” was being pulled along a field road using a UAZ pickup truck.

An image of a UAZ truck towing a military-grade robotic platform appeared on the Internet. It is likely that the occupiers wanted to use such a system in the war against Ukraine, but it is unlikely that they succeeded.

DEFENSE EXPRESS suggests that this image shows the Russian robotic system Platform-M. Even before the full-scale invasion, the Russians showed this system in action, and it was a truly epic spectacle. Even during a demonstration test drive, this “tank” lost control and ran over a journalist and a military officer of the occupying country.

The following characteristics of the Platform-M system are publicly available: gross weight – 800 kg, payload – up to 300 kg, the armament set (according to various sources) can include a 7.62 mm machine gun, up to two RPG-26 and/or up to 4 Kornet anti-tank missiles. The length of the tank’s hull is 1.6 meters, the speed is up to 12 km/h, and the declared power reserve is up to 10 hours. At the same time, the range is only 1500 meters from the operator’s location.

For the first time, the Russians demonstrated the Platform-M system back in 2015, during the May 9 parade in Kaliningrad. Russian propagandists claimed that the Russian army used this robotic system during the war in Syria, but no visual evidence was provided. At the same time, the demonstration of the Platform-M systems did take place during the Zapad-2021 exercises, where these “tankers” allegedly performed the task of supporting the fire of motorized rifle units of the Russian army.

There is publicly available information that in 2015, the Platform-M system was allegedly adopted by the marines of the Russian Pacific Fleet. This may explain which occupying forces could have tried to use this “tank” against the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the front.

When the racists themselves describe the Platform-M, they claim that one of the “advantages” of this system is its ease of operation, which requires only a laptop with the appropriate software and a joystick. This is actually the biggest drawback of the system, as it is the reason why Platform-M cannot operate further than 1.5 km from where the operator is supposed to sit. But it also explains how it happened that all the control equipment for this “robot” fit into the body of a UAZ truck.

The Russians also say to themselves that Platform-M is “better” than “partially mobilized” soldiers. After all, while this “tank” costs “only” 2 million rubles, even adjusted for kickbacks, the cost of a dead “chmobik” is 5 million rubles.

But it is obvious that the issue here is the “reproducibility of the resource.” Because if the Russian military-industrial complex could scale up the production of Platform-M systems, they would definitely appear at the front earlier than in May 2023, and certainly not with such a curious result.