Watch Russian Troops, Combat Robots Operate Side by Side for First Time Ever During Massive Drills

Russia and Belarus kicked off the Zapad-2021 drills on Friday, with the weeklong series of exercises expected to involve a total of nearly 200,000 personnel, 760 pieces of military equipment and more than 80 aircraft, as well as 15 ships. The defensive drills’ main goal is to practice fending off potential aggression by NATO.

Russia’s Uran 9 and Nerekhta combat, reconnaissance and fire support drones have been deployed alongside human troops for the first-time ever in the ongoing Zapad-2021 drills, Russia’s defence ministry has announced.

The ministry published photos of the vehicles in action on its Twitter and Facebook pages, specifying that the combat robots were deployed in drills at the Mulino training ground in Russia’s Nizhny Novgorod region.

Combat recon & fire support drones #Uran9 and #Nerekhta first used among the ground troops' battle formations during the #Zapad2021 strategic exercise's active phase https://t.co/yelrizQUex#RussiaBelarus #JointExercises #CombatDrones pic.twitter.com/FIo0fVkWwT

— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) September 13, 2021

The military also released footage of the drones operating, maneuvering and firing as operators control them from a remote location using joysticks.

🇷🇺 Combat robotic systems "Uran-9" and "Nerekhta" fire at the objects of the imaginary enemy@serious_war_eng pic.twitter.com/5BY3RS9dJA

— Serious War (@serious_war_eng) September 13, 2021

The Uran-9 is tracked unmanned combat ground vehicle providing combat, fire support, reconnaissance and counterterrorism capabilities. The vehicles are equipped with a heavy autocannon, anti-tank and surface to air missile launchers, and feature IR sensors, laser rangefinders and a host of advanced sensor equipment to give remote operators full awareness of the battlefield.

The Nerekhta is another combat robot, and features a 12.7 mm machine gun and a 30 mm AGS-30 automatic grenade launcher, and is designed for reconnaissance operations and the provision of fire support.

Along with the Uran-9 and the Nerekhta, Uran-6 robotic mine clearance vehicles were used alongside manned vehicles to pass mine barriers in Monday’s drills.

#Footage Within the #Zapad2021 strategic exercise, the #BalticFleet units carrying out the sea coast defence mission, jointly with the #NorthernFleet marines, conduct a seaborne assault operation https://t.co/emGDV0e91q#RussiaBelarus #JointExercises pic.twitter.com/WHV1TW2uAh

— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) September 13, 2021