British-supplied robo-dogs sent to battlefield in Ukraine

Machines can conduct reconnaissance missions and deliver medicines to soldiers on front line

British-supplied “robo-dogs” have been deployed on the battlefield in Ukraine, their first known use in active combat.
Footage released by Kurt & Company, a specialist unit within Ukraine’s 28th Mechanised Brigade, showed the dystopian-looking machines operating close to the front line in the war-shattered Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.
Over 30 of the second generation Brit Alliance Dog (BAD2) have been supplied to Ukraine by UK security company Brit Alliance, it was reported this week.
The dogs are equipped with remote-sensing technology and a thermal-infrared camera. Low on the ground, they are able to explore inside trenches, buildings and dense vegetation where aerial drones cannot.
The robot can move at speeds of 9mph for up to five hours, mounted with more than 7kg of ammunition, medical supplies or other items needed in hot spots on the battlefield.
To Russian surveillance drones, the BAD2 emits the heat signals of a rabbit owing to it being wrapped in an anti-thermal camouflage blanket made by German suppliers Concamo, making it difficult to detect. If captured, its data can be erased remotely.
Another major advantage is their low cost, with each model priced between £3,400-£6,800 depending on modifications.
The commander of the Kurt & Company, whose call sign is “Kurt”, told The Telegraph: “If one dog saves one soldier’s life, we will be satisfied.
“First, we are trying to save the lives of our soldiers, so the BAD2 is very important for us. Robodogs can perform reconnaissance, surveillance, detection of enemy ground targets, delivery of provisions, medicines, search for fighters and aiming artillery at targets.”
Kurt said his unit is altering their dogs “to act as a kamikaze drone against vehicles or enemy soldiers”.
“We will start using them en masse after the complete modernisation of the robo-dogs to our needs,” he added. “The process is already underway.”
Kyle Thorburn, Brit Alliance’s managing director, told The Telegraph that the company spent time embedded with the 28th Brigade, “working to find a solution to urban environments and trench warfare”. 
The BAD2 is a modified version of the Chinese company DeepRobotics’ quadruped robot, he said, but completely  stripped, reprogrammed and refitted to fit its new deployment mission.
While he would not comment on the exact number supplied to Ukraine, Mr Thorburn stressed that the BAD2 was not designed as a weapon to kill but to “save lives”.
“That is our ultimate goal here,” he said, emphasising the robot’s skills in identifying booby traps and mines while it traverses through the trickiest battlefield conditions.
“Why send soldiers to do a job that a dog can do?” he asked.
Valerii Riabykh, a former consultant to Ukraine’s military, said that modifying robodogs to be used as suicide drones will be of great value on the battlefield.
“Destroying important targets in combat, particularly in urban conditions or forested areas, that cannot be reached by UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] is an important task,” he told The Telegraph.
They have a “great future on the battlefield” as militaries across the world focus on exchanging humans with robots on dangerous missions, he said.
However, the fact the BAD2 is made using civil technology, not military, reduces its combat abilities, he said.