Ground robots have moved from experiment to requirement.

In three years, Ukraine built the world's first ground robot army. By April 2026 it had contracted 25,000 ground robots, twice as many as in all of 2025. Almost all of their missions are logistics and casualty evacuation: the last tactical mile, where drones have made movement lethal for soldiers and trucks.

These robots are cheap and built to be lost. That is their strength in Ukraine. It is also why most cannot meet Western procurement requirements for supply chain security, interoperability, reliability and long-term support.

Western armies have the standards but not the volume. Their unmanned ground vehicles weigh a tonne or more and are built in the hundreds. What is missing is a light, Western-standard UGV that can be bought in the thousands.

Canada has made unmanned systems a sovereign priority.

• Inflection Point 2025The Canadian Army's modernization strategy identifies unmanned ground systems across logistics, surveillance, communications and force protection.
• Defence Industrial StrategyReleased February 2026. Names unmanned systems as a sovereign capability and directs procurement toward Canadian industry.
• Canada and UkraineIn September 2026, the two countries signed a long-term partnership centred on producing drones and unmanned ground vehicles together.

Ellestin Defence Systems exists to answer that demand: a Canadian light UGV, built on automotive economics, with a supply chain allied buyers can trust.

Sources: Defense News, April 2026; Canadian Army, Inflection Point 2025; Government of Canada, Defence Industrial Strategy (February 2026); Prime Minister's Office, September 10, 2026.