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Abstract

The war in Ukraine has become the largest real-world testing ground for unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), stripping away exhibition-hall narratives and exposing what these systems actually do under fire. This paper distills five practical lessons from that experience and assesses their implications for defense markets and industrial strategy. First, the decisive contribution of UGVs has been logistical rather than kinetic: in the most contested sectors, ground robots now perform the majority of last-mile resupply and casualty evacuation, reducing infantry exposure. Second, full autonomy has largely given way to teleoperation, with artificial intelligence confined to a narrow assistive role and the human kept in the loop, particularly for weapons release. Third, the contested electromagnetic and aerial environment—saturated by reconnaissance and first-person-view (FPV) drones—has made survivability, not payload, the central design problem. Fourth, decentralized, rapid production created a severe standardization crisis, elevating component commonality, open architectures and forward repair to strategic priorities. Fifth, simple, rugged and attritable platforms have consistently outperformed expensive, complex ones. Taken together, these lessons reframe the UGV question away from the ultra-complex autonomous vehicle and toward inexpensive, robust, network-integrated ground tools designed to trade metal for lives. The paper concludes with implications for procurement, sustainment and the defense industrial base, with particular relevance to emerging markets seeking a realistic entry path into unmanned ground systems.

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Citation: Paulo Dominonni (2026) Trading Metal for Lives: What Real-World Warfare Teaches About the Future of Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs). Epistora J. Eng. & Tech. Innov. 1(1), 1-03. Article EJETI-2026-102