Ukraine’s Ark Robotics UGV used in NATO's Crystal Arrow exercise

Latvia’s 2nd Mechanised Infantry Battalion used Ukraine's Ark Robotics’ unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) Ark-1 in a combat role in an exercise for the first time, Lieutenant Colonel Andris Bruveris, 2nd Mechanised Infantry Brigade Commander, told Janes on 11 May 2026.

Image caption: Ark Robotics' Ark-1 UGV with ground control seen during NATO's Crystal Arrow exercise in Latvia on 11 March, 2026. Image credit: Janes/Tamara Rozouvan 

The UGV was tested as part of NATO's Exercise 'Crystal Arrow' 2026 at the Sēlija Military Training Area in Latvia. A team of Ukrainian former and current military personnel affiliated with the company were on-hand to advise with the Ark-1 UGV. “They [the Ukrainians] are showing that it [the Ark-1] is a valuable thing. And with the UGVs we are a little bit behind because we’ve been using only the air drones,” Lt Col Bruveris said, adding that he sees the benefit of UGV integration into land forces. 
 
Combat UGVs 
The Battalion did not rule out using the UGV paired with a first person view (FPV) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to extend communication as part of a last tactical mile mission, said Lt Col Bruveris. During exercise Crystal Arrow, which is led by Latvia’s Land Forces Mechanised Infantry Brigade, a total of seven UGVs from four different manufacturers were used by the 2nd Mechanised Battalion. “Our unit is currently the only unit using ground drones. All other units are using UAVs,” Lt Col Bruveris said. The UGVs used during the exercise, including the Ark-1 UGV, were deployed as one way attack (OWA) systems. None of them had turrets. “Not in this exercise, but the drones [UGVs] had multiple functions including casualty evacuation, transportation of supplies, and for ISR [intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance],” Major Eduards Sinkuns, chief of the operational planning and training department of Latvian Land Forces Mechanised Infantry Brigade told Janes on 12 May. 
 
The Latvian Land Forces are set to receive UGVs configured for combat purposes. “The systems that will be mounted with the guns will be used as a supporting platform and are in place. We are still working on the procedures because that’s a new technology and within the mechanised force you need to analyse in more detail how to plug this into manoeuvre,” Maj Sinkuns told reporters during Crystal Arrow on 12 May. 
 
The Latvian Ministry of Defence (MoD) signed contracts with Latvian manufacturers Brasa Defence Systems, Natrix and LV-Tech to introduce UGVs into the armed forces, the MoD announced in a 10 April social media post. 
 
Ark-1 UGV
Ark Robotics was founded in Ukraine and is currently headquartered in Estonia. Its Ark 1 UGV weighs 12 kg, can carry a 15 kg payload, has a range of 15 km, a maximum speed of up to 40 km/h, and will work at maximum range for around three hours, the company’s representatives told Janes on 11 May. “We’ve been certified for 15 kg and a 15 km range. If the range is less than that, the payload can be a lot more,” an Ark Technology representative involved with systems integration, who wished to be identified by his call sign Backspace, told Janes. “For example, we tried my weight on the UGV and I’m 80 kg. In winter, we tried [it on] skis and it was [able to carry] more than 100 kg,” Backspace said. He did not provide details on the distance the UGV travelled with the 80 kg to to 100 kg weight.

The UGV has a range of 500 m from the controller to the platform in a global navigation satellite services (GNSS)-denied environment. If the platform is connected to Starlink, “we can drive it around here from Kyiv”, a representative of the company, who wished to be identified by his call sign Danger, said. For ground control and mission planning, the UGV is operated using an application called QGroundControl. “For high-quality video streaming we use our own [Ark Robotics] software,” Danger said.

“By using the MAVLink [Micro Air Vehicle Link] protocol we can share the coordinates of the drone,” Backspace said. The company says the future is controlling the UGV via an internet connection, IP link, or modern networks.

The Ark 1 UGV has been used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) since 2024 as a one way attack (OWA) UGV, said an Ark Robotics representative.