Ground army combat robots: what will these operational machines be capable of by summer 2027 ?

An arrival that will materialize the Pendragon project, led by the Interministerial Agency for Artificial Intelligence for Defense and the Future Combat Command. As General Schill specified, this first autonomous combat unit will consist of about twenty ground robots and forty drones. “This unit,” he continued, “will receive an order. It will carry out its mission and report back like a human unit. It will be able to perform defensive, offensive, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions.”

Missile antitank: its equipment will confirm its combatant dimension. “It will have antitank missiles, fire support systems, anti-drone and anti-aircraft combat capabilities,” he detailed. This will be a true first capability. At this stage, it should be commanded by about fifteen men, including mechanics to maintain these robots. “We have a technological innovation but also a military tactic innovation, we will also need to learn,” warned General Schill.

“In the end, it is in ground combat that the determination of nations to prevail lies.” If the French armies missed the drone trend, they are determined not to miss the combat robot trend. Especially since it is no longer fiction. Particularly in Ukraine. On April 13, in a video, Volodymyr Zelensky announced that for the first time “an enemy position has been taken by unmanned platforms, ground robotic systems, and drones.” According to the Ukrainian president, these robots have already carried out over “22,000 missions,” saving the lives of many soldiers.

Proof of their growing importance, on April 18, the Minister of Defense, Mykhailo Fedorov, announced the order of 25,000 ground robots for 2026, double what Ukraine can deploy today. The goal is ambitious: “100% of frontline logistics” should be provided by unmanned ground vehicles, to ensure the supply of soldiers in the most dangerous areas. “The question of ground robotics is exploding. I am absolutely certain that there will be an acceleration,” emphasized General Schill.

“Not to miss the step”: the arrival in 2027 of a unit of ground combat robots, enhanced with artificial intelligence, clearly resonates with the ongoing reflections in the army. Especially on the thorny issue of renewing the 200 Leclerc tanks meant to be out of service by 2037. While the Franco-German project of the future tank – the MGCS – was supposed to address this, its delay of at least ten years forces the military to revisit their plans.

On April 8, during her hearing at the National Assembly, Catherine Vautrin, the Minister of the Armed Forces, mentioned “an intermediate tank capability.” The stake of this investment is high. “We must not miss the leap to the next generation,” warned CEMAT. The message is addressed to the industry, as the challenge is to ensure a transition that integrates the latest innovations, starting with artificial intelligence, to ensure that this new tank is not obsolete upon entry into service.