More than 100 self-driving vehicles built by U.S. company Forterra have been operating in combat zones in Ukraine for the past nine months, in what the company says is the largest deployment of autonomous ground vehicles in combat by any American defense tech firm.
The vehicles, called Lancers, are built on Polaris ATV frames and outfitted with custom sensors and onboard computing. Unlike Ukraine’s own battery-powered supply robots, which typically carry up to 250 kilograms, the gas-powered Lancers can haul roughly 750 kilograms enough to make them useful for moving munitions, supplies, and wounded soldiers off the battlefield. Since arriving last October, the vehicles have driven more than 2,500 miles across over 1,100 missions and helped complete 52 casualty evacuations.
Ukrainian forces were skeptical at first. Forterra’s technology was originally built with U.S. Army specifications in mind, and it took some retooling including adding Starlink satellite connectivity before it proved useful on the ground. Soldiers now say it’s become one of the most valuable tools they have, though attrition is a real problem. Some vehicles have been lost to deep mud or enemy fire, and Ukrainian troops are asking for more at a lower cost.
For now, most of the vehicles are still being remotely operated by soldiers rather than running fully autonomously. They can navigate rough terrain on their own, but can’t yet identify and react to enemy threats in real time. Forterra, which has raised more than $500 million in venture funding, says it’s working on combining self-driving technology with newer AI models to close that gap. Competing firms, including Scout AI, Field AI and Overland AI, are chasing similar goals for the U.S. military.
Military officials say the results in Ukraine are already shaping how seriously the Pentagon is taking ground-based autonomy. As one Army sergeant major leading a related U.S. program put it, the technology has moved from theoretical to proven.
