Russia's uncrewed robot tank fails during debut military display in front of President Putin

Russia’s new Shturm uncrewed tank failed during its debut display at Tsentr-2026, a Russia-led strategic military exercise held from September 28 to October 3, 2026, losing its command-and-control (C2) link and eventually getting stuck in the mud. According to an October 3 Defense Blog post, the tank repeatedly lost its C2 radio link with its separate command vehicle, forcing organizers to abandon remote operations and switch to a human driver-mechanic for a demonstration in front of President Vladimir Putin.

Despite manual human control, the vehicle eventually got stuck in a muddy ditch beside a dirt track, with its tracks and front hull buried in the soil. The Shturm is a Russian heavy robotic, uncrewed assault tank system designed by Uralvagonzavod, a Russian machine-building company and the world’s largest tank manufacturer by output, primarily for urban combat

It is built on modified Soviet-era T-72 and T-90 tank chassis and features a shortened 125mm D-414 main gun, or alternative configurations such as twin 30mm 2A42 automatic cannons and thermobaric rocket launchers. Its defining feature — and the primary source of failure during its debut demonstration — is its control system, which allows the tank to be remotely operated from a separate crewed command vehicle within a radio link range of roughly 3 kilometers. It also has provision for a manual, on-board human driver.

According to Defense Blog, the Russian Defense Ministry initially said on Oct. 2 that Putin had been shown the new uncrewed combat vehicles, and that they provided fire support to assault units during the main stage of the drills. Reports of the failure emerged afterward. The vehicle has “several technical flaws, including an engine compartment and turret roof that are almost unprotected, areas drones most often target when attacking armored vehicles in Ukraine,” according to a Russian armor expert cited by Defense Blog. “The idea of this vehicle seems unsuccessful to me: dependence on a command post that has to be 3 to 4 kilometers away and in direct line of sight. Without proper communications like Starlink, or something similar, there is no point in such a vehicle,” he added. Starlink had earlier blocked russian drones from using its services in the country's ongoing four-year war with Ukraine.

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