Back in July, Russian sources circulated footage from the front line in Ukraine—shot by Russian forces—depicting a Ukrainian heavy bomber drone airlifting an unmanned ground vehicle into action.
It was apparently the first ever all-robot air assault. And now we know when, where and why it happened. The unmanned vertical envelopment was part of the Ukrainian 3rd Army Corps’ ongoing Operation Vivaldi, a months-long counteroffensive that has liberated around 30 square miles of eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast.
“Drones, robots and motivated infantry—that's what the first season of Vivaldi sounds like,” stated Brig. Gen. Andriy Biletsky, the 3rd Army Corps commander.
