Ukraine wants combat humanoid robots — but expect Wall-E over Terminator, as simpler, wheeled tech still wins | Tech Radar

Overview

News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets

Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more

Details

Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards.

Unlock instant access to exclusive member features.

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.

Ukraine wants combat humanoid robots — but expect Wall-E over Terminator, as simpler, wheeled tech still wins

Robotic needs dictated by short-term costs and tech limitations

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Ukraine's Brave 1 opened the first state grant program treating combat humanoid robots as their own procurement category

The move, which aims to capitalize on gains by Ukraine's already-innovative robotics industry, is also cognizant of the current limitations of the tech

The goals set by Brave 1 are modest but offer backing of up to ₴100M+ for breakthrough projects

Ukraine has become the first country to fund combat humanoid robots, but the move might prioritize future innovations over deployable solutions in the near future.

The devil is in the details: its own battlefield data shows wheeled and tracked bots running 66,000+ missions in 2026 so far, while the only combat-tested humanoid lasted three hours on a charge.

This points to the much humbler beginnings that Ukraine's own moves in the space indicate, even as it continues to scale up its bot deployments in the field.

Ukraine's move comes in the form of the Brave 1 Advantage event in Kyiv on 2 July 2026, where company CEO Andriy Hrytsenyuk announced a grant competition for domestically built bipedal humanoid robots designed exclusively for military tasks.

The move, spearheaded by Brave 1, is part of Ukraine's military push for innovation on a fast-changing battlefield; winning designs can receive over ₴100 million (roughly $2.4 million) in grants.

'UGVs are the new future of warfare' — Inside the Ukrainian unit set to become the world's first military brigade where robots outnumber human soldiers

Robots are fighting wars and helping to quash riots — China is arming riot police with squads of AI controlled drones and Ukraine wants to man the frontlines with 25,000 robots

Ukraine wants to be the biggest drone and robot producer worldwide

Brave 1 was founded in April 2023 by six ministries and is now being transferred from the Ministry of Digital Transformation to the Ministry of Defense; it has become Kyiv's main mechanism for converting frontline needs into funded engineering projects.

CEO Andriy Hrytsenyuk painted this as a must-have industry for Ukraine, stating, "We see how quickly the humanoid robotics industry is developing worldwide, in China and the United States. We see that such robots have value for strengthening our military capabilities. That is why we are moving in this direction."

The move seems to be a long-term play on robotics, with Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov also weighing in earlier using three words: war must become a format where "technology fights technology."

The reason one should expect Wall-E rather than Terminator, however, is that Ukraine already runs the largest ground-robot ecosystem in any active war, and none of it walks on two legs.

Ukraine has also made significant inroads, such as holding off Russian attackers at key positions and capturing an entire fortified Russian position with the help of drones and ground robots, marking the first full seizure of territory in the world by bots.

Humanoid robots won’t be the future: purpose-built robots will

'Not 300 but almost': A lone Ukrainian robot held a key position against hordes of Russian attackers for a staggering 45 days

Nvidia, Unitree, and Sharpa are making the most capable humanoid robots yet

For now, the only humanoid that has actually been to war in Ukraine is the Phantom MK-1, built in San Fransico by a startup, Foundation Future Industries.

The MK-1 carries only about 20 kg, has no waterproofing, and provides roughly two to three hours of battery life, compared with infantry missions that run eight to twenty-four hours, rendering it somewhat ill-suited to most of the combat operations that Ukraine currently conducts along the frontline.

Ukraine's investment in humanoids might not, therefore, result in short-term fruitful gains but rather indicate it is bucking the trend, so to speak, even as Goldman Sachs is projecting nearly 50,000 to 100,000 non-combat humanoid shipments globally this year, even as military planners envision putting one in a trench in the near future.

Follow Tech Radar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.

Having built hundreds of gaming PCs and being an avid gamer in his spare time, Rahim tends to have stronger opinions about hardware than most. This is particularly on display when he gets his way with powerful, but minimalistic RGB builds even as Small Form Factor (SFF) PCs come a close second.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

1 Ukraine wants combat humanoid robots — but expect Wall-E over Terminator, as simpler, wheeled tech still wins

2 Quordle hints and answers for Friday, July 17 (game #1635)

3NYT Connections hints and answers for Friday, July 17 (game #1132)

4NYT Strands hints and answers for Friday, July 17 (game #866)

5 This year's Microsoft Excel World Championship was the wildest yet — so who came out on top in the annual spreadsheet super-battle?

Tech Radar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Key Takeaways

• News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets
• Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
• Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards
• Unlock instant access to exclusive member features
• Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards