A Russian soldier lies in a waist-high trench dug into the ground. He believes that he is protected from Ukrainian fire by laying down so that he cannot be seen from the surface of the earth.
However, the soldier doesn’t think that his every move can be seen by the airplane, which flies at a height of a couple of hundred meters. Sitting in his protective position, the Ukrainian pilot takes precise aim, takes into account the strength of the wind, and drops the grenade directly into the arms of the Russian soldier.
It could have been, for example, a Mavic series drone from the Chinese company DJI, which can also be bought in Finland for a few hundred or a thousand euros, depending on the size of the device.
Ukrainian technicians are very skilled at converting drones intended for photography or just for entertainment into deadly weapons.
Airplanes have many tasks
Drones, i.e. remote-controlled aircraft, have quickly become one of the most important weapon systems determining the course of the war in Ukraine. There are numerous models of drones in use, from small devices that drop hand grenades to massive attack weapons that destroy battle tanks. There are drones in both Ukraine and Russia.
Some of the drones are equipped, for example, with missiles that the pilot fires while the device is flying, in which case the aircraft itself returns to its base. Some plunge directly into their target and explode (“kamikaze drones”).
Airplanes have many tasks in war. Drones are also used to scout enemy positions, monitor targets and direct artillery strikes. Devices placed in drones can be used to regionally disrupt the opponent’s communications.
Ukrainian the Ministry of Defense says (you will switch to another service) that they used drones to help when Russians who don’t want to fight want to surrender. The ministry has created a “I want to live” phone number that devotees can call. After this, they move to the agreed place and follow the arriving drone to the other side of the front. There is no unbiased assessment of the system’s functionality.
The Bayraktar was the superweapon at the beginning of the war
At the beginning of the war, Ukraine used Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones very effectively against Russian forces. The destruction caused by the Bayraktars was widely presented on social media, and a praise song was even composed for the drone.
However, after the spring, the role of the Bayraktars has shrunk. Russia has strengthened its air defense and apparently managed to destroy (you move to another service) a considerable part of the Bayraktars.
In recent months, the most media attention has been gathered by the Iranian-made Shahed-136 airplanes used by Russia, which Russia has apparently bought by the hundreds. Shahed can fly a distance of up to two thousand kilometers, so with them Russia can bomb any region of Ukraine.
Shahed is quite slow, so it’s easy to drop. However, Russia sends so many of them on their way that almost always someone gets through Ukraine’s air defenses. Shahed’s explosive power is equivalent to ten artillery shells, so the trail is devastating.
Ukrainian drones, which were used at least in the attack on the port of Sevastopol at the end of October, have their own figure. Ukraine has apparently converted jet skis into assault weapons.
What development step will Ukraine take?
The use of airplanes is increasing and diversifying rapidly in war. As far as Russia is concerned, there are problems with developing them and making new ones. Because of the sanctions, it is difficult to obtain the Western parts or information technology that the complex equipment needs.
In Ukraine, Russia’s destruction bombings and power outages are a disadvantage. However, Ukraine has already had excellence in the field dating back to the Soviet Union. Airplanes are now being developed in Ukraine at a rapid pace.
The armed forces of Ukraine have recently, after the Bayraktars remained on the sidelines, mostly only used reconnaissance drones, but this is about to change.
Minister of Digital Development of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov said before the turn of the year that the country is developing its own attack drone.
– I can already say that the situation regarding drones will change radically in February or March, he stated to the news agency AP.
Project manager of the Ukrainian state company Ukroboronprom Oleh Boldyrev said that the new device has versatile features.
Nastoyashcheye Vremja magazine (you will switch to another service) in the interview, he said that the drone’s flight distance is up to 1,000 kilometers. In addition, the drone can operate in a kamikaze style, i.e. dive into the target itself, or return and land on its home field. According to him, the drone can carry a 75 kg weapon load.
According to Boldyrev, the device, which contains foreign parts, but is otherwise Ukrainian-made, is now in the trial operation phase.
The scary future of drones
Ukraine is considering when drones can be given fully independent operational capability.
In the current situation, the device is able to search for its targets, but they cannot attack until a human has given the command to attack. So there must be a connection between the device and its pilot, which is a weakness in a combat situation: the opponent might have a way to break the connection, rendering the drone useless.
One of the most important anti-drone systems is the various “jammers”, which can mess up the drones’ command connections or, in the worst case, drop the entire device.
Technically, it wouldn’t be very difficult to let artificial intelligence handle the entire attack task, said the artificial intelligence professor at the University of California Stuart Russell news agency for AP (you switch to another service).
According to him, any university student in the field could, in one semester, develop an autonomous drone that could, for example, search for and kill a person inside a building.
A big political question
Under the leadership of the UN, efforts have already been made for nine years to create international rules for the use of “killer robots”. The matter has not progressed at all.
In practice, all major powers are developing artificial intelligence-powered “killer robots”, including aircraft. Their regulation is not progressing because no one trusts that other countries will stick to the agreement.
Ukraine may be taking the first step in using artificial intelligence weapons. So far, the country has not made the required political decision for this, but the pressure is increasing with the war.
Ukrainian lieutenant colonel and co-owner of the company Aerorozvidka, which develops combat drones Yaroslav Honchar stated the news agency AP that people simply cannot process information and make decisions as quickly as machines.
In Ukraine, it is believed that the Russian leadership would have no qualms about bringing AI-powered weapons to the front.
Russia has developed its own Lancet drone, which is said to be capable of operating independently. Since it has not yet been seen on the front, it is probably a sign that the device is not yet operational.
Ukraine does not want to wait for Russian “Terminator weapons”. Ukraine itself has done a lot of research and development work in this field, says Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov in an AP interview.
According to him, fully autonomous “killer drones” are the “completely logical and inevitable” next step in the development of weapons.
– I believe that there is great potential for this in the next six months, Fedrov stated.