Spinning wheels: Are we failing to apply land manoeuvre lessons learnt over the last 100 years?

This can also directly apply to UGVs; however, some context gets lost in a lack of technical understanding, insights, and posting cycles, resulting in limited manoeuvre corporate knowledge within defence capability development and acquisition agencies, often resulting in programs “spinning wheels”.

No one-size-fits-all approach

When a soldier steps into the armoury before a deployment, they don’t grab a single, one-size-fits-all firearm. They assess the mission profile, intelligence reports, enemy weapons systems, and likely threat.

Heading into dense urban close-quarters with a threat that doesn’t wear body armour? They pick a short-barreled carbine for manoeuverability. Operating in open, mountainous terrain where long-range engagement is vital? They reach for a designated heavy calibre marksman rifle or direct-fire high explosive for engaging armour. Navigating complex rubble or highly restricted stairwells where a rifle is too cumbersome? They might rely on a specialised pistol or a dynamic entry tool like a shotgun.

The exact same logic applies to deploying unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) across the rugged, unpredictable theatre of the Indo-Pacific. Defence planners must view UGVs as a diverse toolkit where wheels, tracks, and legs each serve a distinct tactical purpose.

So, what platform do you pick from the armoury and when?

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The tactical armoury mindset: 3 specialised classes

Wheeled UGVs (The standard-issue fitout)

Across most inventories, wheeled platforms serve as the default baseline. They are fast, mechanically simple, and efficient on hard-packed surfaces, making them the standard choice for routine patrols, logistics along established roads, and base perimeters. But if you take standard gear into an environment it wasn’t built for, like forcing wheels into saturated tropical soils, deep mud, or volcanic ash, their advantages vanish as they bog down and spin out.

This was evident at the xTech Strike Ground event in Germany when a number of wheeled systems struggled with heavily undulated and soft terrain.

Can you plan for this as a commander? Yes. But in some circumstances, you will want an increased envelope of operations.

They also struggle in dense, close quarters due to difficulty in stair climbing. Hence why most explosive ordnance disposal robots have historically been tracked.

What about a “track kit” that goes over wheels? This works in lower torque applications such as low-speed, fairly flat, minimal payload and minimal side slip/skid steering. This is because, in high torque applications, the wheel-to-belt interaction is unable to perform the torque transfer necessary, due to the track tensioning requirements of any track design (possible with tensioners to some extent). Furthermore, without sprocket and idler geometry, the risk of detracking a design like this is much higher.

The other option is adding more wheels (six to eight), which provides a compromise between ground pressure, speed, and affordability at the cost of skid steering friction. This is very popular across utility UGV applications required to carry significant loads, while also able to achieve decent top speeds, such as HDT Hunter Wolf, Rheinmetall Mission Master, and General Dynamics SMET.

Tracked UGVs (The heavy terrain specialists)

Engineered specifically for punishing environments where standard platforms fail. Tracked platforms are purpose-built for heavy terrain, soft soils, littoral transition, rocky inclines, and complex operations. They distribute weight evenly to prevent sinking, chew through thick mud, climb over rubble or fallen logs, and pivot in tight, soft environments.

Their primary disadvantages are cost, speed, and maintenance. In general, the additional moving parts mean more maintenance, higher production costs, and reduced drive train efficiency. As such, tracked vehicles are best for carrying heavy payloads in complex terrains.

Quadruped / Legged UGVs (The agile vertical specialists)

Representing the most adaptive tier of mobility, quadruped “robot dogs” are built for environments that completely defeat both wheels and tracks.

When the mission moves away from horizontal surfaces and into high-rise urban rubble, dense jungle trails, subterranean, tight corners, quadrupeds step in. Their articulated legs allow them to step over complex obstacles, crawl through narrow apertures, and maintain stability where continuous tracks or wheels would high-centre.

Quadrupeds suffer from high production costs, slowest speeds, and smallest payload-to-base weight as well as endurance. As such, these are highly specialised systems for locations where wheeled and tracked systems can’t go; they are designed to deliver a very specific, precision effect.

Mission success starts with terrain matching

In the diverse landscapes of the Indo-Pacific, spanning paved military installations, dense jungles, riverines, loose coastal sands, and vertical urban ruins, commanders cannot rely solely on a single load carriage solution.

Treating UGVs like tactical gear means matching the platform directly to the geography, using wheeled systems as the standard fitout for roads, firm open ground and hard surfaces, as well as lightly undulating terrain.

Deploying tracked systems when heavy payloads combine with soft soils and/or steep inclines, such as 30–40 per cent gradient, stairs, etc. Unleashing quadrupeds when the mission calls for agility across vertical obstacles, stairs, and broken, multi-level terrain, to deliver a precision effect.

***Stephen Bornstein is the managing director and chief product officer for Sightline Intelligence.***