Ukraine advances drone warfare with precision combat-robot drops behind enemy lines
Photo: Screenshot from a video (Brave1)
Soldiers from the Alter Ego battalion of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have developed a technology for the high-precision deployment of a combat ground robot tens of kilometers from the front line using a drone, according to Brave1.
How marsupial drone technology works
Such systems, known worldwide as marsupials, have been under development in the US for over 30 years but have never been brought to operational use, according to Brave1.
In the marsupial scheme, one drone delivers another directly to the mission area. To implement this approach, Alter Ego developed its own specialized ground-based robotic complex, Desantnyk, as well as a solution for precise deployment from a bomber drone.
This allows a combat robot to be deployed deep behind enemy lines, at a distance unreachable by ground-based unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) under their own power.
The US has worked on the "marsupial" robotics concept — systems where one robotic asset delivers another — for over three decades. Ukrainian frontline engineers designed, built, and combat-deployed one in 10 days.
— BRAVE1 (@BRAVE1ua) September 25, 2026
Operators of the "Alter Ego" unit (93rd Brigade) engineered the… pic.twitter.com/NOWSVAJVxq
The entire process, from concept to combat deployment, took 10 days. According to military officials, this tactic is currently unique to Ukraine and has been mastered by only a few units.
How Desantnyk performs in combat
Desantnyk already has confirmed hits to its credit, specifically, destroying Russian shelters and personnel. The Brave1 defense cluster took notice of the development and helped the unit find a manufacturer to transition from prototypes to mass production, which should allow the solution to be scaled up for other units.
Shortly before that, the Third Army Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine had also employed a similar tactic for the first time. The NC13 ground strike systems unit, part of the Third Separate Assault Brigade, airdropped kamikaze drones from Griffon heavy bombers over 10 kilometers deep into Russian rear areas during Operation Vivaldi. According to the unit commander, whose call sign is Makar, the fighters have been operating under this scheme for about four to five months, and the success rate of the robot drop operations is approximately 80%.
