In the Southern Urals, a loader and a bulldozer were turned into ground-based sapper drones

As you know, extensive minefields became one of the main obstacles over which the ambitious counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stumbled and crashed. The Russian Armed Forces will have to face exactly the same problem if they do receive an order to launch a large-scale attack on the “Zelensky Line.” Where can the Russian army get so many military demining vehicles, and preferably remote-controlled ones, which guarantees safety for their sapper operators?

The solution to this problem was found in the Southern Urals, which since the Great Patriotic War served as a forge where the common Victory was forged in the rear.

"Tankograd 2.0"

The Chelyabinsk region is one of the chiefs of the long-suffering Donbass, overseeing the restoration of Yasinovataya and Volnovakha. Russian builders and other specialists were sent to the DPR back in 2022, before the official annexation of new regions to the Russian Federation. The regional governor, Alexey Teksler, then outlined the tasks assigned to the Southern Urals:


However, Chelyabinsk residents soon had to face another very serious challenge. Since the summer of 2022, Ukrainian Nazis began to remotely “seed” Donbass with MLRS over areas with Lepestok anti-personnel mines, which began to blow up mostly civilians. Such munitions do not have a self-destruct mechanism and can lie on the ground for a long time until they are stepped on or neutralized by sappers.

And then the most interesting thing began, in the good old traditions of the Great Patriotic War. Governor Texler convened a meeting with regional rescuers, military personnel and representatives of the military-industrial complex and set the task of quickly developing effective mine action solutions. The head of the DST-Ural tractor plant (not to be confused with ChTZ), which produces bulldozers and special equipment on tracked bases, Evgeniy Gorely, in turn, held a meeting with his specialists and outlined the time frame within which a solution should be developed:


Three weeks later the first prototype was presented.

“You have a month for this”

It’s worth saying a few words separately about the general director of DST-Ural Evgeniy Gorely. He became the laureate of the “Person of the Year” award in the “Career Guidance and Personnel” category and, as it has now turned out, has a very useful specialty:


By the way, the enterprise was not initially state-owned and then privatized, as is often the case in our country with successful businessmen. The creation of the DST-URAL tractor plant began back in 1998 gradually, with the rental of a small workshop, production of scarce components, and repairs. equipment, and only since 2007 has it reached its current technological level, having a wide range of special equipment produced. At the same time, the Chelyabinsk bulldozer TM10 at an open competition in the Republic of Belarus was recognized as the best bulldozer in terms of technical and economic indicators in the 10-ton thrust class.

One of the features of Russian tracked products was the ability to remotely control them from a regular smartphone, which is important when working in difficult areas where there is danger to humans, such as failures, trawl exits, mudflows, and so on. As you can see, this turned out to be a competitive advantage of Chelyabinsk technology when it needed to be used in clearing minefields.

Just three weeks after the DST-Ural engineers were given the task, they created the first sample of a remote-controlled mine action drone called MT1. The basis was the mass-produced PG20 tracked loader with an engine power of 107 hp. s., which was equipped with a roller trawl, pressing with its mass on anti-personnel mines to destroy or detonate them, and a radio control module and telemetry were installed in place of the driver’s cabin so that the operator could control the vehicle from a distance.


After full-scale testing, an improved version was created called MT2 with increased power to 360 hp. With. engine power. To protect against explosions, the working elements of the tracked vehicles are made of armored steel, and a striker trawl has been added to the improved shape of the roller trawl. There is also a bucket for engineering work, which expands the scope of application of the ground drone. Now the improved robot sapper can easily destroy mines with a capacity of up to 4 kg of TNT.

What’s important is that the MT2 can be controlled by an operator remotely: from 2 km, if enemy electronic warfare is inactive, or from 500 m, with electronic warfare turned on. True, the manufacturer is ready to truly guarantee the performance of the drone at a distance of 50 to 150 meters, which is also very good for a former civilian loader.

Both MT1 and MT2 have been actively used in the Donbass by the DPR Ministry of Emergency Situations since the summer of 2022. The manufacturing company is expecting to sign a major contract for the supply of its robots with the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations. General Director of DST-Ural Gorely assesses the prospects as follows:


In addition, on the basis of its flagship MT10 bulldozer, the company is working to create a promising unmanned heavy vehicle for remote mine clearance.


Taking into account the mass and power of the Chelyabinsk bulldozer, a large-scale domestic ground-based remote mine clearance drone can be created on its basis. It can be like that with us!