Ukrainian unit commander predicts drone warfare will be truly unmanned in a matter of months and won’t need human pilots

Brovdi’s comments highlight the continued development of various drone capabilities amid the war in Ukraine.

Drones have become a defining element of the war, as has the resulting arms race. Both sides in this conflict are using unmanned systems en masse and developing new countermeasures. As FPV drones emerged as a serious threat, extensive electronic warfare was employed to counter them. Tethered drones connected to the operator by fiber optic cables were then used to defeat jamming. Autonomous, AI-driven drones would also be immune.

Drones have drastically changed what the modern battlefield looks like and pushed Western armies such as the US to further prioritize the development of unmanned systems and options for eliminating them in combat.

Discussions around AI in drones and other weapons systems have been ongoing in recent years. Earlier this year, the Pentagon updated its directive on autonomy in weapons systems, a move Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Kicks attributed to “the dramatic advances in technology happening all around us.”

Militaries like the US have been thinking bigger when it comes to AI, including autonomous fighter jets, warships, and more.

But with the rise of AI comes a range of concerns about letting autonomous systems make kill decisions. Earlier this year, reports of Israel using AI to locate and target Hamas operatives raised a number of concerns about how to keep the human in the loop.

The AI race in militaries has also led to international disputes about whether to impose regulations on how to develop and use AI weapons. Some major players, such as the US, Russia, and Israel have argued there’s no need for new international regulations on such capabilities. Others, however, argue that rules need to be put in place sooner rather than later.