The Russian defense holding company Vysokopotrechnye Komplexy has delivered a batch of Depesha ground robotic systems to the army.

The press service of the Russian state corporation Rostec reported on this.

The version and number of the delivered units of the multipurpose platform are not disclosed. However, it is known that these systems have already been used by the occupiers in the war against Ukraine as ground kamikaze drones.

The Depesha drone was developed by the Russian research institute Signal and was first presented last year at the Army-2024 defense forum.

The platform is based on a four-wheel drive wheeled chassis and can carry out logistics missions, evacuate the wounded, act as an attack drone with a combat module, or carry other payloads weighing up to 200 kilograms.

During last year’s debut, the developers presented an ambulance version with a stretcher for the wounded, as well as a sapper complex with the launchers of engineered ammunition for remote mining.

The wheeled chassis of the ground drone has four-wheel drive and independent suspension, where each wheel is driven by a separate electric motor.

The UGV is capable of moving over rough terrain at speeds up to 30 km/h. The range, maximum radius and duration of operation remain unknown.

The drone can be remotely controlled by a single pilot using antennas, a remote control, and goggles for FPV drones. In addition, the possibility of wired communication via fiber optic cable has been announced.

Ukraine is also not far behind in this direction, having recently demonstrated the integration of a fiber-optic communication system into a ground-based unmanned platform.

The main advantage of fiber-optic systems is the stable transmission of telemetry, control and video data with minimal delay. This allows the operator to effectively conduct precision fire on moving enemy targets and confidently control the combat vehicle.

Increasingly, Ukrainian UGV are also appearing on the front line. In April last year, a Ratel S drone blew up a bridge in the village of Ivanivske to complicate the invaders’ logistics in the Bakhmut direction.