Russia has publicly released video footage of range trials of an unmanned ground combat system designated “Kuryer,” fitted with a newly disclosed automated mortar module called “Bagunlnik-82.”
The footage, published by the NRTK channel, which covers Russian ground robotics development, shows the system operating with a rotating turret housing both the mortar tube and an integrated automatic loading mechanism. After each shot, a mechanical arm retrieves and chambers a fresh round in approximately five seconds — a cycle time that, if sustained under operational conditions, would give the unmanned platform a meaningful sustained rate of fire without exposing personnel to counter-battery risk.
The Bagunlnik-82 module had not been publicly reported before the release of this footage. Based on its caliber and configuration, analysts have suggested the weapon may be derived from the 2B24, a lightweight 82mm mortar already in Russian service and well suited for vehicle integration given its relatively low weight and compact dimensions. However, the possibility that designers created an entirely new 82mm weapon optimized specifically for the Kuryer chassis has not been ruled out.
The Kuryer itself is a tracked unmanned ground vehicle — the type of platform Russia has been developing under its broader ground robotics program, referred to in Russian military terminology as NRTK, or unmanned ground combat complexes. Mounting a mortar in a rotating, stabilized turret rather than relying on a fixed forward-firing arrangement gives the system the ability to engage targets across a wider arc without repositioning the entire vehicle, an advantage in both defensive and offensive fire missions.
What distinguishes the Bagunlnik-82 footage most clearly from earlier Russian unmanned ground system demonstrations is the autoloader. Previous Russian ground robots shown publicly have largely relied on machine guns or anti-tank guided missiles — weapons that do not require reloading between shots in the same manual sense. Integrating an automatic loading arm into a mortar turret small enough to fit on a light unmanned chassis is a more complex engineering problem, and the footage suggests the system has reached at least a functional prototype stage capable of conducting live fire.
The practical significance of an unmanned mortar platform lies in what it removes from the equation: the mortar crew. Conventional 82mm mortar teams are among the most vulnerable elements of an infantry formation, exposed during setup, firing, and displacement, and subject to rapid counter-battery fire once their position is identified. A robotic system that can fire, move, and fire again without personnel at the point of launch addresses that vulnerability directly, and could allow commanders to place indirect fire capability in locations too dangerous or too exposed for manned teams to occupy.
Russia has accelerated development and public disclosure of unmanned ground systems over the course of the war in Ukraine, where both sides have faced severe manpower pressure and where the lethality of the battlefield has made any reduction in crew exposure operationally valuable. Whether the Kuryer with Bagunlnik-82 progresses beyond range trials to series production and front-line deployment remains to be confirmed, but the footage establishes that Russia has moved the concept of an autonomous indirect-fire ground robot from paper to functioning hardware.
