The US Army FireAnt uncrewed ground vehicle mounted on Bradley infantry fighting vehicles is a copy of a weapon system originally developed in the 1980s, according to military observers.
Attention was drawn to the structural similarity between the two systems by the Telegram channel Military Chronicle following recent video footage of the military hardware published online.
The online video demonstrated a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle configured with five small FireAnt ground drones mounted on the vehicle side armor screens. The armored host vehicle was deployed as a mothership platform during the Pegasus Charge 3 military exercise.
The small ground drones weigh approximately 27 kilograms each. They can be fitted with explosive warheads, electronic warfare systems, or specialized reconnaissance equipment depending on the mission parameters.
Historical Origins of the FireAnt
A military robotic system with the exact same FireAnt designation was first introduced by Sandia National Laboratories in 1988. That earlier radio-controlled vehicle was built on a wheeled chassis, carried anti-tank munitions, and possessed an operational range of roughly 500 meters.
Under its 1988 operational concept, a human operator steered the ground drone into a targeted operational zone, after which the vehicle functioned autonomously. The warhead was programmed to trigger automatically whenever a large moving target appeared.
Sandia National Laboratories is a major American national security research and development laboratory operated for the United States Department of Energy, specializing in defense technology, robotics, and advanced weapons development.
Ground Drone Tactical Roles
The mounting of small robotic platforms onto larger armored combat units reflects broader military efforts to integrate uncrewed systems onto conventional battlefield platforms. Infantry fighting vehicles like the Bradley are armored tracked combat vehicles engineered to transport infantry squads under protective armor while delivering direct supporting fire.
Ground robotic complexes are increasingly tested for various battlefield roles across different military forces. Russian defense holding company High Precision Systems previously reported that the primary combat zone mission for the Russian Depesha-3 uncrewed ground vehicle was the delivery of supplies to frontline troops.
