Drones to independently identify targets due to AI – Ukrainian military

The consequences of using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will become more threatening when drones operate based on artificial intelligence (AI).

This opinion was expressed in an interview with Ukrinform by Robert Brovdi (by the alias of Madiar), commander of the separate regiment of strike unmanned aerial systems Madiar's Birds.

“When artificial intelligence becomes capable of independently identifying targets stored in its memory and distinguishing one type of equipment from another — not just in prototypes, which already exist and are even used in combat, but on a mass scale — the consequences of UAV use will become significantly more threatening,” he stated.

According to Brovdi, the development of AI is the next stage in the evolution of drones. At present, both Ukraine and Russia are working on the widespread use of fiber-optic drones, which cannot be suppressed by electronic warfare (EW) systems. Such drones receive commands and transmit feedback digitally via a wire that unwinds from a spool over distances of 10-15 (or even more) kilometers. The drone's flight range depends on its payload capacity; a larger drone can carry a spool of up to 50 kilometers.

“This is a moderately intelligent step, so to speak. It doesn’t make the drone autonomous; there still has to be a pilot controlling it. However, the operator can be in better-protected locations and is less vulnerable. Such drones can be operated at lower altitudes without the risk of losing the radio signal or the drone itself,” Madiar explained.

Solutions based on fiber optics and AI are just part of the technologies currently being massively integrated and deployed on the front line, the commander of Madiar's Birds regiment added. These technologies are still relatively limited, but scaling them up is only a matter of time.

“It’s a matter of time, not even a prediction: analog drones controlled via radio frequencies will be replaced by fiber-optic-controlled drones (or those protected from EW in other ways). The question is which industry will begin mass production of these systems faster because, right now, we assemble them by hand,” Brovdi noted.

As previously reported, the Ministry of Defense delivered over 1.2 million unmanned aerial vehicles of various types to the Defense Forces in the first 11 months of 2024, including reconnaissance, strike, and FPV drones.