The killer robots tested during the Zapad-2021 exercises are causing concern in Western countries, as they are a "step forward" in creating a Russian unmanned army, the American publication Stars and Stripes writes .
The publication notes such Russian ground-based drones as the Uran-9, equipped with a 30-millimeter automatic cannon, a machine gun, anti-tank missiles and a flamethrower, and the Nerekhta, firing at targets with a machine gun and a grenade launcher.
According to defense analyst Alexis Mrachek, the use of robots during the Zapad-2021 exercises means that " Russia continues to experiment and look for new ways to increase lethality and survivability." Military expert Peter Singer is sure that Russia's military exercises give a hint of future approaches to the use of drones.
In September, during the Zapad-2021 exercise, the Russian military for the first time used the Uran-9 and Nerekhta combat robots in the combat formations of combined-arms units. "Uran-9" successfully hit the armored vehicles of the imaginary enemy at a distance of up to 5 thousand meters. "Nerekhta" were used for fire support and reconnaissance.
Ivan Potapov