Money Is The Secret Weapon In Ukraine’s Battlefield Robot Surge

The TERMIT is the latest robot to be codified and approved by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence. This small, tracked vehicle made by Tencore is an Uncrewed Ground Vehicle or UGV, one of many now appearing in Ukraine. Previously they appeared in small numbers, this year is will see large-scale deployments as production of low-cost UGVs moves from hundreds to tens of thousands.

Some 20 different units already use TERMITs, but the government stamp of approval means commanders can order them at scale through official channels. TERMIT is in demand because it supplies what soldiers want now. This is thanks to a streamlined development process, close contacts with the front line – and investment funding.

Technology At The Speed Of Need

In the West procurement of a new UGV can take years. Things have to move faster in Ukraine.

“Ukraine operates in ‘wartime R&D mode,’ with direct feedback from the frontlines, no bureaucracy, and a focus on what works,” Maksym Vasylchenko, Co-owner and CEO of Tencore told me. “Decisions that take months elsewhere happen in days here. Additionally, the government, volunteers, and private sector collaborate closely, and the end-users – soldiers – are also involved from day one.”

The goal from day one has been to develop a machine that could get soldiers out of the firing line. The company slogan is ‘Let robots fight.’

Replacing humans in a wide variety of hazardous tasks requires something profoundly modular and flexible, which has been key to TERMIT’s design. It can act as a logistics carrier, bringing 300 kilos /660 pounds of supplies to the front line through the gauntlet of FPV atttacks. TERMIT can go out in front of defensive positions to lay mines or go ahead of an assault to clear enemy minefields. And it can carry a weapon (a machinegun or grenade launcher) to provide fire support.

But TERMIT can also take on a variety of less obvious roles. It can act as a communications relay, or an electronic warfare unit, or use a winch to recover other vehicles, or evacuate injured troops. This sort of requirement drove the design.

“TERMIT began as a tactical concept from frontline requests,” says Vasylchenko. “The first working prototype was developed in weeks using available materials. After the initial field testing, we worked closely with combat units to refine design, control systems, and operational roles.”

TERMIT had to be modular to take on a variety of different roles. It also needed to be rugged, transportable, easy to repair in the field, and suitable for low-cost mass production.

But while FPV developers can assemble their vehicles on kitchen tables on a shoestring budget, ground robots require much greater investment. And that can be a major problem.

The Secret Ingredient: Money

Ukraine is well known as a tremendous driver of military innovation, arguably leading the world in drone systems, But companies looking for investment funding from abroad tend to some up short for a whole raft of reasons.

”Where do I start?” asks Perry Boyle, CEO of MITS Capital. The initials stand for Military Innovation Technology Solutions; it was founded in 2024 to bring investment capital into Ukraine’s domestic defence industry. “You have to be a true believer in Ukraine to invest in it.”

Boyle lists the lack of secure returns, issues with war insurance for plants that may be hit by Russian missiles, and export restrictions which mean that the only customer is currently the Ukrainian military. There is a lack of working capital available from banks in Ukraine, and Western banks do not lend money to Ukrainian defence companies.

In addition, Boyle notes the lack of an IPO market, Ukrainian capital export controls, and what amounts to price controls. Add to this a reputation for corruption in military procurement.

“The Government of Ukraine could do much to mitigate these impediments, but after three years has done frustratingly little.” says Boyle. “So, there is almost no private capital coming into the country.”

This goes some way to explain why so many Ukrainian defense enterprises are small-scale operations run by volunteers backed by fundraisers. Outfits like MITS could help change that, if the organization seeking funding meets their criteria.

“We’ve worked with Tencore for half a year, and did a stringent due diligence,” Denys Gurak, CIO & Co-Founder at MITS Capital. “They’ve overperformed all of our indicators.”

He notes that two of the core founders had extensive international expertise in building factories, an important factor when investing in a company which aims to scale up production rapidly. With investment funding from MITS, Tencore rapidly moved TERMIT from a prototype to certified end product with a large base of satisfied users.

“UGVs are no longer just tools for niche tasks,” says Vasylchenko. “They are now essential assets for logistics, assault, evacuation, and reconnaissance. Their rapid growth reflects battlefield demand, grassroots engineering, and military openness to experimentation”

Leading Russia – And The World

Russia has matched Ukraine in FPV development, ramping up production at a similar rate to Ukraine and even leading in areas like thermal imaging FPVs and fiber optic FPVs. But in ground robots, where Russian ought to have to have an advantage, Ukraine has moved ahead.

Before the war Russia had some notable UGVs systems like the Uran-9 which had seen extensive combat in Syria in 2018 and the Marker which was touted as having advanced AI. With far greater investment funding available, the Russian defence industry should have converted this technology into effective fighting machines.

This has not happened.

“Russia’s UGV projects like Uran-9 or Marker are expensive, centralized, and largely disconnected from field reality,” says Vasylchenko. “In contrast, Ukraine’s ecosystem is decentralized, fast-moving, and driven by frontline necessity. Ukrainian UGVs are battle-proven and constantly evolving. Russia’s remain largely theoretical.”

And while Ukraine has been developing and fielding UGVs at pace to save soldiers’ lives, Russia has no such imperative.

“In Russia, soldiers have no value to the military as humans, only was weapons of war. Russia sees its soldiers as expendable. Ukraine sees its soldiers as its family. Thus, the incentive for innovation is much higher in Ukraine than in Russia,” says Boyle.

Meanwhile in the rest of the world, UGV development continues at a considerably slower pace.

“The link between the front line and the factory floor is stronger in Ukraine than in a NATO country, resulting in much shorter product improvement cycles,” says Boyle.

This is partly a question of cost.

“[In Ukraine] A UGV can cost as little as $5,000,” says Boyle.

TERMIT is perhaps a tenth the cost of NATO equivalents. Few other suppliers quote pries, but In 2024 Milrem supplied 60 TypeX and THeMIS UGVs to the UAE in a package worth $200m, suggesting the robots cost a million dollars plus each. These UGVs may be significantly larger and more sophisticated than TERMIT so they are not directly comparable. But this sort of expensive hardware is not suitable where logistics UGVs are hit by Russian FPVs on a regular basis.

The point of UGVs to replace people is that, unlike people, they are expendable. That only become possible when they are cheap enough be be acquired in large numbers.

Tencore aims to produce 2,000 UGVs by the end of 2025, but that is just the start. Meanwhile a host of other Ukrainian companies are turning out their own designs, and the most successful will attract more funding and bigger orders. Expect to0 see a lot more in th enear future.

“Their rapid growth reflects battlefield demand, grassroots engineering, and military openness to experimentation,” says Vasylchenko. “UGVs are no longer just tools for niche tasks. They are now essential assets for logistics, assault, evacuation, and reconnaissance.”