Humanoid robots get first outing on Ukraines front lines
As drones and robotics advance war is becoming an increasingly robotic and autonomous affair.
Key takeaways
- Humanoid robots are already building datacenters, running marathons, and assembling cars - so it was probably only a matter of time before they ended up fighting on the frontlines along their more motorised counterparts.
- In a recent interview with Time, Mike LeBlanc, a combat veteran and co-founder of the robotics firm Foundation, revealed his company has already sent humanoid robots to the war-torn battlefields of Ukraine.
- According to fresh reporting from Ukraine state news agency United24, the country has initiated 7,495 robotics operations in January alone.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2026) 'Humanoid robots get first outing on Ukraines front lines', 311 Institute, 24 February. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/humanoid-robots-get-first-outing-on-ukraines-front-lines/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
Humanoid robots are already building datacenters, running marathons, and assembling cars - so it was probably only a matter of time before they ended up fighting on the frontlines along their more motorised counterparts. In a recent interview with Time, Mike LeBlanc, a combat veteran and co-founder of the robotics firm Foundation, revealed his company has already sent humanoid robots to the war-torn battlefields of Ukraine.
Back in February, Foundation sent two Phantom Mk-I units for frontline reconnaissance duty, Leblanc shared. Though the Mk-I platform is already deployed for trials in factories around the world, this would seem to mark the first deployment of a humanoid robot to the frontlines of the Ukraine-Russia war - or, as far as we can tell, any theater of combat.
“We think there’s a moral imperative to put these robots into war instead of soldiers,” LeBlanc told Time. His goal is to eventually build Phantom into a robot that can use “any kind of weapon that a human can,” like the eponymous killer robots in the “Terminator” movies.
We could evidently see that reality play out sooner rather than later. As the magazine observed in a February visit to a Foundation facility in San Francisco, the Mk-I is already capable of wielding revolvers, semi-automatic pistols, shotguns, and a dummy M-16 rifle.
If the company does make a fully-functional humanoid soldier bot, the eastern-front in the Ukraine-Russo war is as likely a place as any for them to end up, since its non-humanoid brethren have already seen significant combat there.
According to fresh reporting from Ukraine state news agency United24, the country has initiated 7,495 robotics operations in January alone. Though the majority of them are logistical - delivering weapons, ammo, and food to ground troops, for example - others bear Kalashnikov machine guns and explosives. Dramatic footage earlier this year showed Russian soldiers surrendering to an armed Ukrainian bot.
Russia has also embraced robotics for various battlefield tasks, though it has yet to deploy any humanoid units.
Beyond Ukraine, Foundation is also in “very close contact” with the Department of Homeland Security about patrol-bots for the US-Mexico border. Whether we’ll ever see that come to pass remains to be seen, but the fact that it’s possible just about says it all.
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Why does this matter?
As drones and robotics advance war is becoming an increasingly robotic and autonomous affair.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
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Sources and further reading
- recent interview with Time time.com
- Watch inside foundation s humanoid factory and the anatomy of a war machine humanoidsdaily.com
- from Ukraine state news agency United24 united24media.com
- Kalashnikov machine guns and explosives bbc.com
- also embraced robotics wired.com
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 24 February 2026. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2026). Humanoid robots get first outing on Ukraines front lines. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/humanoid-robots-get-first-outing-on-ukraines-front-lines/
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