Key Factors
- Russia’s Shturm uncrewed tank repeatedly misplaced its management hyperlink at Tsentr-2026 and was pushed by a crew driver for Putin’s demonstration.
- The automobile nonetheless acquired caught in mud, and armor professional Andrei Tarasenko mentioned its engine compartment and turret roof are practically unprotected from drones.
Russia’s new Shturm uncrewed tank failed in its first main outing, dropping its management hyperlink many times in the course of the Tsentr-2026 strategic train and eventually getting caught in mud, even with a human driver on the controls.
The remotely operated automobile, constructed on a T-72 tank chassis, repeatedly dropped the radio hyperlink that connects it to its separate management automobile in the course of the drills on the Chebarkul coaching vary in Russia’s Chelyabinsk area, Russian sources mentioned. For the demonstration in entrance of President Vladimir Putin, the tank was not pushed remotely in any respect. A crew driver-mechanic took the controls due to fears of a technical failure.
Even that didn’t save the present. A photograph from the train exhibits the Shturm tilted nose-down in a muddy ditch beside a mud observe, its tracks and entrance hull sunk into the soil.
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The failure comes after Russia offered the system as one of many highlights of Tsentr-2026. The Russian Protection Ministry mentioned on Oct. 2 that Putin had been proven the brand new uncrewed fight automobiles, constructed on the T-72B3M chassis in tank and BMPT variations, and that they offered hearth help to assault items throughout the principle stage of the drills, The Defence Weblog reported.
The Shturm heavy robotic assault system, developed by Uralvagonzavod, pairs remotely managed fight automobiles with a crewed management automobile that additionally sits on a tank chassis. The principle model carries a shortened 125 mm gun for city combating, a bulldozer blade and further armor towards shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons. Operators steer every automobile from contained in the management automobile, which has to remain inside a couple of kilometers to maintain the hyperlink.
Russian armor professional Andrei Tarasenko mentioned the automobile has a number of technical flaws, together with an engine compartment and turret roof which are nearly unprotected. These are the areas drones most frequently goal when attacking armored automobiles in Ukraine.
He additionally questioned the entire idea.
“The thought of this automobile appears unsuccessful to me: dependence on a command submit that must be 3 to 4 kilometers away and in direct line of sight. With out correct communications like Starlink, or one thing comparable, there isn’t a level in such a automobile,” mentioned Andrei Tarasenko.
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The hyperlink drawback goes to the core of the system. With out a steady sign, the Shturm can not combat as an uncrewed automobile, and the crew within the management automobile nonetheless has to remain near the entrance line in an armored automobile of its personal. On the battlefield in Ukraine, either side jam drones and floor robots each day, which makes a gentle radio hyperlink even tougher to carry than on a coaching vary.
Uralvagonzavod started work on Shturm round 2018. The primary take a look at automobile was noticed on the firm’s plant in Nizhny Tagil in July 2025, with a crew on board.
