U.S. Autonomous Ground Vehicles See Combat in Ukraine, Mostly by Remote Control

Forterra's 100-plus Lancer vehicles have operated in Ukraine for nine months since October 2025, completing 1,100 missions, 2,500 miles, and 52 casualty evacuations. In practice, Ukrainian operators teleoperate them rather than use full autonomy—the vehicles are too valuable to risk and the autonomous stack isn't combat-ready. It's the largest U.S. military autonomous ground vehicle deployment, but validates remote-piloted logistics, not autonomous maneuver under fire.