The Russian military has deployed four Marker combat robots to the Donbas region, building their combat algorithms before putting them to the test.
“The first 4 Marker robots have arrived in the Donbas area on time. We are loading target images, building battle algorithms to set up combat squads, as well as installing powerful anti-tank weapons. Force,” former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, leader of the “Tsar Wolf” military advisory group, wrote on Telegram on February 2.
Rogozin did not say when the Marker series of robots began to enter the war or the location of deployment. Ukraine has not commented on the information.
The Marker robot development project was started in 2018, first tested in June 2020, and completed in January 2022. Each robot has a mass of 3 tons, a maximum speed of 70-80 km / h, a range of 1,000 km, and can operate independently for 60 hours continuously.
The Marker has a tank-like shape, equipped with a combat platform with a modular design, which can carry a variety of weapons, such as guided anti-tank missiles, automatic grenade launchers, and machine guns.
It can also carry medical equipment, infantry support equipment, and small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for reconnaissance or enemy raids.
Russian media said that the Marker could identify targets based on artificial intelligence (AI) technology, which is expected to counter UAVs with electromagnetic pulses and weapons.
Oleg Martyanov, head of the Robot Technology Development Center of the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research (FPI), said that the manufacturer “taught” Marker the skill of hitting targets with a rifle many times faster than a human. Emphasizing that they can distinguish between civilians and soldiers to select targets that “pose a direct threat.”
Ukraine and Russia both claim to have AI-equipped UAVs. No country in the world has used fully automated combat robots in combat, but experts say it is only a matter of time before Moscow, Kyiv, or both sides deploy them.